Xinjiang
is located in the center of the Eurasian Continent and had been
a hub on the ancient silk road which began in the east, in Chang`an,
the ancient capital of China,and stretched all the way to the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean, with almost half of the road in the
territory of Xinjiang. Since ancient time, Xinjiang has been a place
where the economies and cultures of the East and West converged
and exchanged. Where countless historical figures had been active,
leaving behind them numerous historical ruins and relics so that
whenever the Silk Road mentioned, Xinjiang is also mentioned.
Within
Xinjiang are the three trunk route of the Silk Road--the central
silk route, the southern silk route, and the northern silk route.
Covering a total length of over 5,000 kilometers. The central rout
was known as ¡° the northern silk rout ¡° during the Han
Dynasty ,and viewing it in the present concept , it had begun form
Hami , passed through the ancient city of Jiaohe in the Turpan Basin,
wounded along the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains and the
Tarim River , and reached westward to Kashgar , and through Tashkorgan
out of the khunjeab border , passing through such historical cities
as Gaochang , Jiaohe , Luntai ,Qiuci and shule .
The southern silk route had begun from the northern slope of the
Kunlun Mountains , wounded along the southern edge of the Taklimakan
Desert westward across the Pamir Plateau , and directly into India
.It was one of the ancient China¡¯s earliest international passageway
to the West , and more notable , because two world-class explorers
¨China's Xuanzang Monk and Italyi's Marco Polo ¨had risked their
lives traveling on it , and leaving behind them colorful and romantic
tales to add luster to the waned road.
The northern silk route was also known as the "new northern
rout ". It had begun from Yiwu and run westward along the southern
slope of the Tianshan Mountains into Mulei, then along the northern
slope of the Tianshan Mountains, passing though Jimsar Urumqi ,
and other places long the route and out the border from Ili. This
rote had been in existence since the Western Han dynasty, and had
gained importance following the Sui and Tang dynasties. |