CNN | The Silk Road Story

[Music] once long ago a network of arteries was etched into the earth a vibrant passageway for trade along which Goods people and culture flowed spanning 8,000 kilometers over land and sea this was the old Silk Road for the past nine months I've been on the journey of breathtaking beauty east to west real attack on all your senses really to retrace the ancient corridors of Commerce forged some 2,000 years ago from silk farms in China to Turkey's olive groves these historic hubs of trade have not only survived but indeed thrived now centers of innovation and modern exchange when can we see something like this please now is possible finally our journey ends here in a region made rich by its maritime past we explore the technology keeping it afloat an industry still spending a profit and celebrate the ultimate incarnation of an ancient marketplace this month we reach the city of water Venice and venture into Italy [Music] it's known as a floating city founded on a lagoon off the north coast of Italy and strategically situated on the shores of the Adriatic Sea Venice was once a gateway for trade between East and West a lot of years ago a lot of it means 800 years ago the only income was buy the goods by the custom of the goods everything passing through here paid at 30 40 50 percent to Venice just to pass through and with that money became so rich what was traded here a long time ago everything coming from the east so our species could be the salt could be the silk the firewall spaghetti it was also the Venetian merchants who source goods as exotic as these venturing east along the Silk Road they crossed into Central Asia traveling as far as China before returning home with treasures to trade perhaps the most famous Venetian explorers was a man who lived behind those walls Marco Polo his travels lasted more than two decades and his account of those experiences that of legend his tales from faraway lands sparked a fascination with the East encouraging more trade and communication and strengthening the Venetian Republic's maritime might today our Sonali wants the epicenter of his naval power still stands that's another venerates yeah a a log or dog event even across three tele navi the arson alley in Venice was a place where vessels were built for trade as well as to defend the city it started small and grew slowly from the end of the 12th century growing steadily until it became one of the largest shipyards by the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the sixteenth century within these walls much of the city's economic wealth and power was built at its peak there was enough manpower to produce a ship a day equipment adore CDT evocative on an already a finale it is said that 10,000 men could be found working at the shipyard and there are about 1500 carpenters in charge of building the ships these figures give an idea of the scope magnitude and work done here at the shipyard during the 16th century [Music] despite its maritime pro-west living on a lagoon poses a set of unique problems for this city it's very beauty its crowning glory the water that surrounds it has been its biggest challenge here high tides known as acqua alta are part of life in Venice become winter when driven exceptionally high waters cause the canals to creep into the far corners of the city flooding places like the famed Piazza San Marco last year the tide exceeded a hundred and ten centimeters seven times while business is closed for some others have adapted at library acqua alta bathtubs and gondolas protect the books from rising water hurried this money came i what us or the the books and the baths they safe how difficult is it to run a business like this go used to so we're so we know how to do it he's already alpha meter up in 1966 and acqua alta of almost two meters quite literally put the city under water it was the worst flood in Venice's history leaving 5,000 people homeless with the added threat of rising sea-levels engineers decided the only way to keep out the high tides was to create a man-made barrier and so mosai a reference to the biblical character moses who could part water was born it was an idea proposed in 1988 but it took 15 years to break ground spread across three inlet points 27 concrete foundations have been fixed to the lagoon floor and fitted with gates that are opened and closed to exceptionally high tides symbolically situated alongside Venice's once glorious shipyards is a mosaic control room now a center for technological excellence and innovation here engineers have been monitoring the conditions of the lagoon since 2011 in anticipation of the day Musa is fully complete Wow look at this so this is where everything is controlled delivered at door yeah the gates are raised according to Archimedes principle something discovered over 2,000 years ago Emil an ephah healer the innovation lies in combining ancient physics principles with cutting-edge technology eventhough the-- it's a long-term project monica Ambrosini has followed for years taking us out welcome I'm sorry for the way their work is expected to take another two more years but already 85% of the barriers have been installed [Music] here we are so we're over the gates right now yes we are in the northern canal of the leader in Layton and here under the water at minus six meters there are the twenty-one gates already installed when a tide comes we put air inside the gates so they float to stop the entrance of the high tide inside the lagoon why was it important to have this under the sea and not a permanent barrier not permanent structure like other countries and yes it was a request of the Italian state because they said that we couldn't make interference on the navigation the inlet are the entrances to the main harbour standing side by side like dominoes the berries are designed to protect Venice and the businesses it runs for century a pioneering feat of Italian technology you've got a lot of countries looking at what's happening here in Venice and this technology be emulated elsewhere yes a lot of countries are interested for example in Jakarta or New York City is looking at this because they think that this system can be used in case of flooding these floating gates can be a chance for many parts in the world here in Venice the sea is a way of life it is a place whose wealth was built on the economy of the harbor and the traffic of ships and trade with revolutionary technology Venice has finally found a solution to take advantage of the sea once more by sharing its knowledge and information with a global community these shores are now paving a new modern Silk Road silk one of the oldest fibers known to man a shimmering thread of unparalleled grandeur some 2,000 years ago Chinese merchants traded this precious commodity westwards forging the old Silk Road an ancient network of passageways over land and sea yet the origins of silk were shrouded in mystery a secret carefully guarded by China for centuries only once the silkworms and their eggs were smuggled out that the knowledge of cultivating silk reached this European town Italy suck industry began as early as the 12th century when cities in the north began exporting silk across Europe to satisfy the increasing demand from the rich and the powerful and today como remains at the center of salt production nestled in the north of Italy Lake Como is known as a city of silk thanks to the presence of the right climate the right temperature the silkworm breeding was possible thanks also to the presence of the cultivation of mulberry trees leaves from this tree is the only food those little sick wars want to eat by the late 1800s coma was outputting 60,000 tonnes the cocoons a year but with the onset of the two world wars the pride of an entire country was interrupted and dismantled at a certain point after the Second World War it became cheaper and cheaper to import from China unable to compete with more competitive prices Italian spinning mills were forced to shut down yet Como endured even if we don't produce anymore they yarn because we import it what remains in Como is the rest of the story so Como remains today the unique place in the world where you have a very high high level of production I mean yourself to mrs. Obama for example or Kate Middleton but you sell also for the most expensive market you can think for tapestry in the big villas but especially for fashion collections today como produces 85% of Italian silk and around 70% of the silk used in Europe for over a century the family-run business of Montera has been one such company that weaves and prints and designed silk that is then sent all over the world here's so production is an artwork a craft carefully perfected for generations using both traditional and newer printing techniques Montero supplies of world's best including brands like Valentino and salvatore ferragamo how to say I'd never expected to see some massive sub production house here in Italy what's the process how does this work everything starts from the yarns from China then there is the process of weaving that we make in Italy and then that's the printing phase that actually starts the color is spread on the screen and then the fabric should be dried and then it starts the second screen with a different color using age-old methods like these one scarf can take up to six months to create it's a labor of love that Franco Montero believes is still crucial to their success is a kind of migration from the traditional printing to the digital printing for a reason of timing and for a reason of costs the real challenge for us is to continue using the traditional printing at the same time of the digital printing but to produce something different but it's not just printing differently to rejuvenate the industry they're thinking of growing silk once more the secret that we see here is a 98% the yarn is made in China but do we have the right climate we have also the right a territory to do it probably we cannot change the world in this in this way but we can do something and you going back to the past an Italian company dorka is doing just that into oven with gold their artisanal jewels use silk spun from locally grown worms this could be the future a way to remain competitive on the catwalk to proudly boast not just made in Italy but grown in Italy it may not get compared to the silk production of China before a company like Montero these yarns might one day be spinning in New Silk Road [Music] [Music] I've been on the journey through Italy once an ancient epicenter for trade along the old Silk Road today this is a place that still prospers have navigated venice's waters to witness Battalion technology turning the tide and protecting the historical Lagoon from floods and traveled to Lake Como the city of silk to learn about the Renaissance of their textile production [Music] finally I've reached Milan the business capital of Italy it's known as Expo every five years nations of the world from east to west gather together to hold a world fair an international exposition to share knowledge and ideas Algy panna cotta is this really the food of the future that'll be good today it's grown now spread over 1 million square meters and for the second time Milan has played host ten floors but an amazing view I have to say this place is so massive so we're in a buggy just to make sure we get to see everything every day some 250,000 people have been coming here and it's been going on for about six months the reason for the expo in the beginning was really you know to bring the world in a place and have the inhabitants of the place being exposed to the opportunity to learn about the world a hundred and forty nations are here to participate laid out country by country there are 54 self built pavilions each an opportunity to boast products culture and ideas a lot of a visitors come into the World Expo and a way think it is a good a platform for us to be exposed to the international stage to just let people from a different parts of the world to know China more the centerpiece in the Chinese Pavilion is this an art installation representing the wheat fields of China and when you hear seeing all these people sharing ideas sharing knowledge it really feels like a modern-day reincarnation of the old Silk Road spanning 8,000 kilometers over land and sea the Silk Road was an ancient marketplace a network of passageways connecting east to west just think about the concepts behind they're super old and we try to create to create exactly the same feeling in here so getting people together getting populations together push on innovation creating some sharing conditions of experiences facilitating trade and actually plan the basis for future economic development and nothing brings people together better than food a place like Italy is famed for its traditional cuisine but the thief for this Expo is about the future and years to come Marco Pedroni believes this is how we'll shop new IBM imagine African questo super mercado de feu Turin Expo do a their fundamental decay we've conceived two ideas with this supermarket of the future that the supermarket will once again be an open square a meeting place not just for goods but also a place for people to talk and trade in in this supermarket the stores are low to recreate a square where you can see all the people and goods within it then it's on it if you feeling me up to Catania Superamerica the second idea is greater transparency in food with more information for the consumers we have tested this idea of improved labels where you have more information than what you'd usually find on the regular paper labels that are printed on packaging if stamp I prefer silicon for theory when could we see something like this these now is possible the fair is a pure example the information on this label is where you find the price the allergens and the place of origin for every single raw ingredients in the market of tomorrow nutritional advice and the carbon footprint of the food we buy will be at our fingertips but at the expo it's not just about consuming food it's also about innovative ways of producing food they are everywhere like in every city and every pond River canal you find different type of algae so they are a resource that is present everywhere but we currently are not exploiting integrating technology with nature this is the world's first urban algae canopy providing shade the equivalent of 25 trees worth of oxygen and an unusual but viable source of food growing population access to meet to animal protein is going to become more and more expensive more and more difficult and often not very high quality so what Algy offer is an alternative to that is a new stream of nutrients of vegetable protein which are completely sustainable and they are grown within the city a petri dish like this has the same amount of protein as one steak Algy panna cotta is this really the food of the future I believe so that's why I actually prepare it for you to have a go let's give it a shot it's a good it's a good spot to start from that it'd be good very strong but very very hard I can see myself eating this and the quiet tastes perhaps but this could be one step towards a larger vision for the future of our food nine months ago I embarked on a journey from China following the ancient Silk Road it has been a remarkable voyage that has finally reached an end from e-commerce in India to soap operas in Turkey have learned about silk and spices tourism and trains to me the Silk Road is so much more than just the roof it embodies international trade and business a channel for sharing innovation and visions for more connected world in many ways this is the perfect way to end my journey along the Silk Road the Milan Expo is the ultimate manifestation of the exchange of culture and commerce a modern-day equivalent for what took place between East and West all whose centuries ago [Music]

Channel: Mantero 1902

Views: 109,530

Rating: 4.446475 out of 5

Keywords: silk, fabric, CNN, mantero1902

Id: nXptcteCeqg

Length: 23min 2sec (1382 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 20 2017