The Silk Road
The Silk Road is a documentary series created through the joint cooperation of China's CCTV and Japan's NHK, exploring China's historical sites, villages,
religions and cultures along the ancient trade route. Consisting of twelve episodes, the series takes us on a journey through the Silk Road within China.
The journey begins in the ancient China’s capital city Chang An (now Xi'an), crosses deserts and mountains, and ends in the Pamir Plateau at the border between
China and Pakistan.
It was the Silk Road that connected the East and West. Ideas as well as goods were exchanged through the Silk Road. Religious ideas such as
Buddhism, Christianity and Muslim were transferred to China, and technological inventions such as printing and gunpowder were transferred to Europe via the Silk Road.
Episode 01 - Glories of Ancient Chang An
The Silk Road crew explore historical sites and cultures in Chang An, including the Great Wall and the incredible Clay Army.
Episode 02 - A Thousand Kilometers beyond the Yellow River
The Silk Road crew leave Chan An, reach the Yellow river and cross the river using goat-skin rafts.
Episode 03 - The Art Gallery in the Desert
The Silk Road crew go to the Gobi Desert and look around the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang.
Episode 04 - The Dark Castle
The Silk Road crew travel to Khara-khoto, 250 miles from the oasis of Jiu-chang, near the Qilian Mountains in the Gobi Desert.
Episode 05 - In Search of the Kingdom of Lou-Lan
The Silk Road crew leave Yan-guan for Lou-Lan in the Taklamakan Desert, accompanied with Chinese military people.
Episode 06: Across the Taklamakan Desert
The Silk Road crew arrive at the oasis town of Cherchen, and then they try to reach Niya across the Taklamakan Desert by camels.
Episode 07 - Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
This episode tries to introduce local cultures and industries in the region of Khotan, an oasis town in the southwest part of the Taklamakan Desert.
Episode 08 - A Heat Wave Called Turfan
The Silk Road crew explore the hottest region on the Silk Road - Turfan, once called Land of Fire.
Episode 09 - Through the Tian Shan Mountains by Rail
The Silk Road crew travel from Turfan to Korla by train - starting in the Gobi region, crossing the eastern Tian Shan and down into the northern Tarim Basin oases.
Episode 10 - Journey into Music: South Through the Tian Shan Mountains
The Silk Road crew visit Buddhist caves near Kucha and find paintings and artifacts related to music.
Episode 11 - Where Horses Fly like the Wind
The Silk Road crew take a journey along the north Tian Shan route of the Silk Road and meet people from many different ethnic groups.
Episode 12 - Two Roads to the Pamirs
The Silk Road crew take a journey from Kashgar, via Tashkurgan in the Pamir Plateau, to the border between China and Pakistan along the Silk Road.
| Related Links |
| Silk Road - wikipedia The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East. |
| The Silk Road II (NHK) This is a documentary series produced by Japan’s NHK, exploring the western reaches of the Silk Road beyond China and Mongolia, eventually arriving in historic old Rome. |
| The Silk Road with Sam Willis This is a three-part BBC documentary series hosted by historian Sam Willis, revealing how the Silk Road was the world's first global superhighway where people with new ideas, new cultures and new religions made exchanges that shaped humanity. |
| In the Footsteps of Marco Polo Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell took a wild idea - retrace Marco Polo's entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice to China and back - and spent two incredible years of their lives making their dream a reality. |