‘Among the world’s great cultural traditions, only four have developed with long histories, vast territories, coherent systems, and far-reaching influence: Chinese, Indian, Greek, and Islamic civilizations—there is no fifth. And there is only one place on earth where all four converged: Dunhuang and the Xinjiang region of China. There is no second.’

Stretching from imperial heartlands to the oasis kingdoms of the western frontier, this legendary route once linked China with Central Asia, Persia, and even Rome—an artery where civilisations met, collided, and mingled over the course of a millennium. In Xi’an, the Terracotta Army still stands guard over a city that once welcomed envoys from every corner of the known world. Further west, Dunhuang rises from the desert like a beacon of ideas; in the Mogao Caves, a thousand years of Buddhist art fuse Gandharan forms with Central Asian and Persian motifs and the graceful lines and colours of the Tang dynasty. Beyond lies Jiayuguan, the terminus of the Great Wall and the symbolic threshold between empires, while the rainbow ridges of Zhangye’s Danxia spread across the Gobi like nature’s own palette. Along the shores of Qinghai Lake, Tibetan, Mongolian, Muslim, and Han cultures interweave beneath vast highland skies. Entering Xinjiang, the ancient oasis cities of Urumqi, Kashgar, and Kuqa still pulse with the rhythms of the old Silk Road—its bazaars, religions, music, and languages layered with Turkic, Persian, Buddhist, and Islamic legacies. Threading through all of it are the footsteps of merchants, monks, envoys, and explorers whose journeys transformed this corridor into one of the greatest cultural exchanges in human history. Here, the Silk Road is more than an ancient trade route; it is the enduring bridge that shaped both China and the world.

Join Eastogo’s small-group tours, private journeys, or self-guided routes, and explore the Silk Road in your own way.