The Silk Road through China stretches from Xian in the Shaanxi Province through to Dunhuang. In ancient times, however, the Silk Road was not a single road, but a collection of hundreds of routes used by traders to form a network. These roads allowed effective trade between Europe, China, and Central Asia.
The description of what is known as the Silk Road today was adopted by a German scholar known as Baron Ferdinand von Richtofen. The road, outlined in the middle of the 19th century, passes through China’s Jade Gate and splits into four different directions.
There are, of course, several reasons to tour China’s Silk Road, each branch leading to Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, or Xinjiang. Check out some of the pictures of our favorite Silk Road destinations.