Not many countries can offer as diverse an array of history, culture and geography as China. As one of the world’s oldest civilizations – with a history dating back more than 5000 years – China continues to influence the arts and cultures of the modern world. The evidence of its grand empire is scattered throughout the country, from individual monuments such as the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall to fascinating cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Kashgar.
It is also from this powerful empire that the Silk Road was born, creating a vital link between East and West, and it is this aspect of China’s past that we focus on. Trading began within the Chinese empire when caravans began transporting silk to the western provinces in the second and third millennia BC. But it was not until the Chinese traveller Zhang Qain forged relations with the tribes of Central Asian in 128 BC – trading the precious material for the regions highly converted Heavenly Horses – that the Silk Road expanded further west. Originating in Xi’an, the route branched off into a labyrinth of tracks that travel across mountains and deserts passing through Central Asia and eventually reaching the markets of Byzantium and Rome.
Group Adventure Tours and Tailor-Made Holidays in China and the Silk Road.
At WILD FRONTIERS we run a number of trips along the Silk Road, some focusing on Central Asia, others on locations further to the west and one along the Chinese portion of the route. But that is not all we do in China. We also run exciting trips to Yunnan, to see the remote tribes and spectacular paddy fields of the region, and to Kunming and Litang.
For more information please chose an itinerary or take a look at our travel guide.
