The Silk Road was the First Channel By Which Chinese Culture was Spread to Other Parts of the World

The Silk Road was the first channel by which Chinese culture was spread to other parts of the world, linking up the countries together along the way, connecting the ancient cultures and wisdom of the world, promoting the exchanges and development of eastern and western civilizations. As early as in 1993, the United Nations World Tourism Organization officially created the Silk Road Tourism Project, encouraging 29 countries along the road to actively participate in it. China is the starting point of the Silk Road. It is the core and soul of "Silk Road Tourism Belt". The Silk Road is a road of ancient charm, a road of modern vitality, a road of future potential.

In the 2nd Century B.C., Zhang Qian, an early Chinese traveler along the Silk Road, made two journeys to the Western Regions in his lifetime. A 7000 kilometer long road brought the East and the West together, starting unprecedented exchanges between the two parts of the world. Envoys, merchants and religious pilgrims walked along the long road for centuries.This road connected the Chinese Heartland and the Western Regions with Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Over the centuries, it gradually extended to the Mediterranean Sea. It stretched eastwards to the Korean Peninsula and Japan and westwards to France and the Netherlands, and to Italy and Egypt by the sea. In 1877, a German geographer wrote a book entitled "China" which gave the “road” a beautiful name: the Silk Road.

On the Silk Road, Chinese silk dyed with the Phoenician red once became the most favorite fabric for costumes of the heads of state and nobles of different countries. Printing, ceramics, tea, gunpowder and compass made it to the west along the Silk Road, while glass, musical instruments and religions were introduced to the east. Thousands of years of prosperous trading, technology transfer, ideological and cultural exchanges unfolded along the road.

The Silk Road is the common treasure of the mankind. It has become a road of mutual political trust, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges for countries. The once bustling Silk Road that was there for one thousand years remains silent in the sandy desolation, leaving us many unsolved mysteries. Today, in China, this historical route that connects the past and the present is to be awake, attracting us to visit her again.This is the great New Silk Road. It comprises of the ancient "Silk Road"-related northwestern region, the "Overland New Silk Road"-related Mid-west region and the "Maritime Silk Road"-related major coastal cities of China. At the same time, through these three roads, China’s beautiful sceneries, traditional customs and colorful folklores will be introduced to the world.