For the great Silk Road, there are too much to tell and convey. Because of the difficulty and expense of long distance commerce, life on the road will also become dazzling and different. Today, let us walk closer to Silk Road and research the deep mystery of it.

Exotic Food
The Golden Peaches of Samarkand may have been deemed royal, but they were far from the only exotic fruits and foodstuffs valued by the emperor court. Dates, unknown in China, were brought died and sugared from the Middle East, while watermelons from Hami were transported east, preserved in lead containers packed with ice from the Tian Shan. Still more valued were the mare-teat grapes of Kuqa, brought east and planted at Changan in around AD640. Grapes were a novelty to the Tang, a society which produced many types of alcohol from rice and other grain, but which soon learnt to plant vineyards and produce wine. Different fruits and different food were transported and imported. At that time, the grain in China also happened a large changing.

Beasts of Burden
Goods moved slowly across Asia, travelling about 40 kilometers a day, the distance typically covered by a fully loaded camel in about eight hours, depending on the terrain. On the flatter sections, camel-drawn carts would have completed the entire journey between Changan and Mediterranean. Instead, goods were moved in stages, passing through the hands of different caravan-drivers and on the backs of different beasts of burden from oasis to oasis, each transfer of ownership increasing the cost to the purchaser and enriching local merchants and transport guilds.

Domestic Animals
Domestic Animals also formed an important part of the trade between west and east. The Chinese particularly valued the horses of Central Asia, and especially of the Fergana Valley, which they exchanged for silk, but they also imported Bactrian camels, asses and sheep from the plains of Central Asia. Particularly swift and dependable camels were assigned to an official called Emissary of the Bright Camel and used to carry the imperial mail. Other highly esteemed Bactrians were designed flying dragon camels and kept in the imperial stables. Camels were not just used for transport, but also prized for their lng manes, which made excellent cloth, while camel hump was considered a delicacy.

This is the basic life on the Silk Road. If you want to know more, please contact us!