Ancient Routes & Arteries

Linking the Central Plains, the Western Regions, Central Asia and Europe — the main axis of trans-continental exchange in antiquity.

After Zhang Qian "opened the road," camel caravans carried silk, papermaking and tea west and brought Buddhism, grapes and glass east — a road that changed both worlds.

Linking Chinese ports with Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and East Africa — a network of ocean trade.

Treasure ships sailing from Guangzhou and Quanzhou traded porcelain and silk for aromatics and gems; Song-era maritime customs once filled a major share of the treasury.

Crossing China, Mongolia and Russia — the great trade road of early-modern Eurasia, carrying Chinese tea north and into Europe.

Shanxi merchants moved tea from the Wuyi Mountains north through Zhangjiakou and Urga to Kyakhta, whence it entered the Russian and European markets.

Linking Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet and reaching toward South Asia — the classic route of highland trade and the tea-horse market.

Porters and mule caravans carried tea from Sichuan and Yunnan up to the plateau and returned with horses and mountain goods — a lifeline named after the tea-horse trade.

From Chang'an to the Tibetan realm — a key passage of Han-Tibetan politics, religion and trade.

Princess Wencheng traveled this road to Lhasa; envoys went back and forth for three centuries — one road witnessing the bonds between Han and Tibetan peoples.

Linking the Hai, Yellow, Huai, Yangtze and Qiantang rivers — supporting north–south grain transport, economic integration and the rise of cities.

The longest artificial waterway in the world; grain barges ran from Jiangnan to the capital, raising a string of cities along the banks — Yangzhou, Linqing, Huai'an.

A Qin-dynasty military highway dubbed the "ancient expressway," joining Guanzhong with the northern frontier.

Built under general Meng Tian from the Qin capital straight to the Yin Mountains; traces of the roadbed remain — shaping frontier defense, edicts, migration and ethnic integration.

Through the Qinling and Daba mountains, joining Guanzhong with Sichuan — a perilous corridor between the Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations.

"Harder than climbing the sky," say the poems — the Jinniu, Micang and Lizhi passes crossed the ramparts, enabled Qin's conquest of Shu, and tied the southwest into the southern Silk Road.

Older than the Silk Road, carrying Hotan jade from Xinjiang to the Central Plains — early resource flow and mutual learning.

Jade vessels of Hotan jade in the tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu prove that, more than three thousand years ago, Kunlun jade had already entered the Central Plains ritual system along the Hexi Corridor.