 
Exquisitely dressed
icons transport visitors to another age.
Follow ancient tracks
crisscrossing the shifting sands.
Local growers turn
grapes into fine desert wine.
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The Silk Road crisscrosses one of China's
most extravagantly colorful and richly varied regions, populated by the majority Han
Chinese, nomadic Kazakhstani horsemen, gaudily attired Tibetan monks, and proud Uighurs
who can trace their Islamic ancestry back to the Middle East.
The advent of better air links, improved roads and luxury hotels means individuals can now
easily reach China's far west, where they witness the dramatic isolation of the Gobi and
Taklamakan deserts. Tucked deep in the desert are the oasis towns of Dunhuang and Turpan,
two of the furthest-flung places on Earth.
Unknown cities may still be buried under the shifting sands; European explorers earlier
this century came across intact settlements and treasure-filled caves which they proceeded
to plunder, shipping trunk-loads of priceless manuscripts and irreplaceable paintings back
for display in the museums of France, Britain, Germany and the United States.
The prime spot for this archaeological looting was Dunhuang, an oasis town that lies on
the very edge of the Gobi. Modern-day visitors have the chance to stroll around the desert
perimeters, or take a sunset camel ride up and around its softly curving slopes.
For the camel-trains of old, Dunhuang was effectively the last stop in civilization as
they knew it. From then on mountains, deserts, ice and snow conspired to make their
journey out of China more perilous. Bandits also operated along the route.
The fantastic Buddhist carvings in the nearby Mogao Caves were begun by these merchants,
who believed that investing in a statue of the Lord Buddha would bring fortune and health.
Those who made it safely back, pockets lined with trading wealth, commissioned another
couple of statues, or paintings, for good measure.
Not all merchants and adventurers stuck to the exact same Silk Road course. In truth there
were many routes — indeed, it is often referred to by the less-glamorous-sounding The
Silk Routes — and the staging system meant that few traders would venture all the way
from Xian to the ultimate destinations of Constantinople, Damascus or Rome.
But the generally accepted main route of the Silk Road in China is from Xian, across to
Dunhuang and Turpan and on toward the far western border. Outgoing camel trains taking
this route were loaded with the much-prized soft silk of eastern China together with furs,
ceramics and bronze ornaments; freight coming the other way included grapes, pepper, gold,
spices and glass.
Tourism looks set to be the biggest Silk Road industry this century, as travelers from
near and far are lured by its unmatched mystique. Contemporary visitors witness scenes
that have changed little over the centuries: tradition is deeply ingrained into the fabric
of everyday life.
In the foothills of the Tian Shan range near Urumqi, the Kazakhstani herders shun much of
the modern world and its luxuries. The semi-nomadic herders have exquisite horse-riding
skills, regularly tested to the limit in impromptu races, or rowdy games of sheep's-head
polo.
Life here is played out against the backdrop of jagged snow-capped peaks, which serve to
accentuate the turquoise blue of the perpetually chilly Heaven Lake.
Ironically, it is the forbidding nature of the terrain and its isolation that is leading
to a revival of interest in the Silk Road, some two thousand years after it was first
established.
Visitors leave with respect and admiration for the travelers who negotiated the route in
earlier times, and return home imbued with the unquantifiable satisfaction that comes from
having visited one of the world's most extraordinary places.
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