Silk Road: 6,500 Kilometers of History絲綢之路

李蓓

In 2013， China proposed “the Belt and Road Initiative”（提出“一帶一路”倡議）. The Belt is the Silk Road Economic Belt（絲綢之路經濟帶）. The Road is the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road（21世紀海上絲綢之路）.

The idea will help China work with Europe（歐洲）， Africa（非洲） and other parts of Asia（亞洲）.

The Silk Road was a route（路線） between China and Europe in the old time. About 2，000 years ago， people traded（做生意） along（沿著） the route. The route was about 6，500 kilometers（千米） long.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road connects（連接） China with Southeast Asia（東南亞）， Africa and Europe by sea.

During the Han Dynasty（漢朝）， more Chinese goods（貨物） traveled from China to Europe. All kinds of Western goods began arriving in China too.

Chinese merchants（商人） took silk（絲綢） to Rome（羅馬）. Romans（羅馬人） exchanged（交換） the silk with glass（玻璃制品）.

Chinese merchants brought back a lot of things from other countries， like cotton（棉花）， ivory（象牙）， wool（羊毛） and gold（金子）.

The Chinese also sold（賣） tea， salt， sugar and porcelain（瓷器）.

Along the road， people exchanged not only goods， but also ideas and technology（科技）. The four great inventions of ancient China（中國古代四大發明） traveled to Europe too.

The Silk Road is much more than just a trade（商業，貿易） route. It is also a kind of cultural exchange（文化交流）. It connects China and other parts of the world.

More than 2，000 years ago， Chang’an（ now Xi’an） was the capital（首都）. Emperor Wudi（漢武帝） was worried（擔心的） about the enemy（敵人）——Xiongnu people（匈奴人）. He sent Zhang Qian to the West to ask for help from the Dayuezhi people（大月氏人）. Zhang started his journey（旅程） to the West.

On the way to the West， some Xiongnu people caught（抓住） Zhang Qian. Zhang had to stay with them for about 10 years. He escaped（逃跑） and finally（最終） found（找到） the Dayuezhi people in Central Asia（中亞）. But they didn’t want to fight against（和……打仗） the Xiongnu people. Zhang Qian was disappointed（失望的）. He didn’t finish his job. But he took back（帶回） a lot of things from the West.

Not long after， Emperor Wudi sent Zhang Qian to the West again. Zhang took silk to the West this time. He exchanged silk for glass， gold and food. That’s why we call it the Silk Road now.

In 2014， the Silk Road became a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage（聯合國教科文組織世界文化遺產）.

The Silk Road went through（穿過） mountains（山脈） and deserts（沙漠）. Merchants（商人） often met big winds and bandits（強盜）. Very few merchants made the whole（全部的） trip. To stay safe， they traveled in groups（群組）. Horses helped them carry（運載） goods（貨物）. They had to ride camels（駱駝） in deserts.