1 . Following the Famous Silk Roads

The Silk Roads were a network of ancient trade routes that extended from East Asia all the way to the Mediterranean. A key section of the Silk Roads is the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor（走廊）, which stretches over a distance of around 5,000 kilometres through China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, covering a total of 8,700 kilometres of trade routes. The three countries jointly pursued an application for UNESCO World Heritage (遗产) status which contained detailed research on the 33 sites along the corridor. This made history as the first successful multinational World Heritage application.

The starting point of the corridor and the entire Silk Roads network is Xi’an, in Shanxi Province. Further west on the Silk Roads, the geography gradually changes from wild deserts to high, snow-capped mountains to vast grasslands as the routes pass through the Tianshan Mountains and emerge in the valleys of Central Asia. Although the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Roads ends here, the network continues westwards until it reaches the Mediterranean.

The corridor began to develop in the 2nd century. Assigned by the emperor, the ambassador Zhang Qian journeyed from Chang’an to Central Asia, seeking to build bridges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. Following Zhang’s efforts, trade routes took shape and relationships were strengthened between the major powers of the time, with the routes network reaching as far as the Roman Empire.

Economic activities along the routes network were not limited to trade in silk. They contributed many other items to the marketplace of goods. The routes were busy with camels carrying loads of goods and businessmen selling everything imaginable. China’s exports included silk, porcelain, ironware and tea, while horses, jewellery, spices and grapes were all imported over vast distances from the West.

In addition to trade exchange, the network served as a bridge for cultural exchange which shaped the evolution of science, art, technology and many other areas in societies along the network. Astronomy and mathematics were introduced to China from India and Arabia; important Chinese inventions such as papermaking and printing were brought to the West.

All of these activities contributed to a great age of expansion as trade and cultural exchanges gave people access to new goods, knowledge and ideas. These routes connected Eastern and Western civilizations, which achieved a shared development. The addition of the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor to the UNESCO World Heritage List is a milestone in recognition of the Silk Roads as a crucial part of humanity’s common heritage.