The SilkRoad is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa andAsia. People reached these different places along these roads. Scientistsbelieve people began to travel the Silk Road about 3,000 years ago. By the timethe Chinese silk trade became important in the world, the Silk Road coveredalmost 6,500kilometres. It spread from Rome to China, which is from the West tothe Far East.
Traderstravelling along the Silk Road carried silk, of course. They also carried andtraded spices (香料), cloth, valuable stones and gold.
There is afamous old story along the old road. It is said that Roman soldiers (士兵) travelled through central Asia.They started to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese village of Liqian. Someof these Romans married local Chinese women and the story of blue-eyed villagesof China was started.
During itsbusiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from many different cultures andcountries to meet each other and mix. The Silk Road allowed the sharing ofvaluable goods and new ideas. These included people and trading goods from theMediterranean, Persian, Magyar, Armenian, Bactrian, Indian and Chinese areas.All these peoples travelled the Silk Road, and they shared goods, stories,languages, and cultures.
In moderntimes, the old Silk Road routes (路线) are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead ofcamels and horses. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan in China. Ithas over 35,000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, Chinaprotects the history of many countries and peoples.
