The Chinese Silk Road - Episode 1 - The Journey Begins | Travel China

[Music] centuries before planes trains and merchant ships brought our world closer together the Silk Road was the lifeblood of international trade trade route connecting China to Europe since 200 BC the Silk Road was traveled by merchants of all nationalities in search of treasures riches and life changing adventure my name is Graham life and in this series we're an epic journey of discovery on the Chinese section of the Silk Road starting out the ancient capital of Xian and finishing an extraordinary Islamic city of kashgar we'll be exploring how the Silk Road shaped the places and the lives of the people in this part of the world our journey will take us through scorching deserts soaring mountains bustling cities and or inspiring ancient monuments lost all the while hearing the incredible stories of those people who make the region one of the most fascinating the diverse places on the planet [Music] [Applause] welcome to the Chinese Silk Road [Music] our journey begins right here in the central Chinese city of Xie [Music] as the ancient capital of China this is where the Silk Road began and it was from here that Chinese merchants started their seven thousand kilometer journey west to your in its Silk Road heyday xi'an became the richest city in the world and was attracting traders and merchants from all across the globe developing into a cosmopolitan city that was like nowhere else on earth today chiana's a thriving metropolis with a population similar to London and yet it still doesn't even make the top ten most populated cities in China [Music] the Silk Roads influence on xi'an can be most clearly seen in the city's muslim quarter so i headed in to check it out for myself islam itself travelled along the Silk Road and into China and today Xian is home to more than 100,000 Muslims with most of them being direct descendants of the Islamic traders from the West who chose to settle in Shia after their long journey on the Silk Road [Music] tucked away deep inside the Muslim Quarter is a real gem of Shia the great mosque the mosque has stood in Xi'an since 742 and it is still the center of Muslim worship in the region today in the days of the Silk Road many traders would come here before setting off in order to pray for a safe journey to the west [Music] - dah - zero zero is trans con todo se na tiga Chien Optima yes si todo de Chivo meows OH - mail from Buddha - Amanda - yeah libera - yoga posture by Islam from John 1:1 yatta-pelican Goya Vinci menagerie chinampas animal th and Oh mojo Vedas Johan Tom Fong ago TAS TAS Lancia non-chaotic Arabia Joshua de th e de la tienda que so many the Sochi bismillahirrahmanirrahim muslin Aviva Sun to volunteer food items so far we can make all the pieces on duty Dungeonland return to the main page for sure charge the - Stanley Mussolini on the street or the kitchen one that you think you it's a really calm and peaceful place to be here kind of tucked away in the back streets of the Muslim Quarter of xi'an it's really hard to believe actually that we're only a few yards away from the busy street that we were just on you know all of the noise and the action has just kind of fallen away and come down to peace and quiet however we couldn't stay relaxing at the mosque for long as it was time to begin our journey west on the Silk Road leaving the city behind us we are quickly enveloped by the vast beauty of the Qinling mountains buried deep in the heart of these Peaks is our next stop the my ji shan grottoes a series of caves shrines carved meticulously into the mountainside my Zhi Shan has been an important site of Buddhist pilgrimage for over 1500 years construction of the grottoes here in mighty Shan began in the late fourth century by the early 5th century a monk named Thanh hyung arrived here from Xi'an together with another monk named Sean Gao they built a thriving monastic community of up to 300 monks however Buddhism did not always have a smooth ride in China during this time under the new Bey Wei dynasty about 20 or 30 years after they had established their community Buddhism came under intense scrutiny where monks were killed just for practicing their beliefs tan hung fled south to coach in China or modern-day Vietnam and it was here that most probably in protest against the scrutiny that Buddhism was under in China at the time that tan hung burned himself to death [Music] it is however importance points out that the subsequent rulers of the way dynasty actively supported the practice of Buddhism and thus my Chi Shan began to thrive and grow once again it is my G Chan's position on a crossroads of the northern Silk Road and southern routes down to Southeast Asia that give it a rather unique flavor my Zhi Shan is widely regarded as the first meeting point between Western and Eastern Buddhism and what is interesting about the sculptures and art here is that actually they displayed quite a large influence from India and even Southeast Asia it's quite easy to see even this early on in our journey on the Silk Road the cultural clash that really happened in this part of the world you [Music] [Applause] continuing our journey west it's not long before we arrived at the bustling city of Lando the capital of Gansu Province and often referred to as the Golden City Lando was a major historical link on the Silk Road a place where tired travelers could rest and restock after a long and treacherous journey today lanzhou is most famous for one thing noodles Lando really is the city of noodles the locals here absolutely love them a particular favorite is the local dish Liang Joe beef noodles or LAN Joe gnarnia noodles themselves have a very important history on the Silk Road with it being widely believed that Italy's pasta has its origins in China and travel to Europe along the ancient trade route LAN Joe lamian can be and is eaten at any time of the day breakfast lunch or dinner here at the famous star shine bunt war restaurants the lunchtime rush has begun and in the kitchen the heat is on in this part of China this dish is considered to be an art and the kitchen works in a beautiful seamless clockwork fashion to serve up hundreds of satisfying balls into the hungry masses the noodle flowers first massaged into a huge doughy mass before being rolled and pulled skillfully into shape [Music] next the noodles are tossed for a few minutes into the boiling pot before we insert darkens of bonds finally beef onion and chili are added to finish the job [Music] young young passes on to the trenches so cheesy Randall Randall Latifah Charles Lang Trudeau I know tada I know you oh yeah twelve years dear Eugene June try there : Joshua order such so lenient truthful to the fortunes owner can ya dirty me miss me laughing how you feeling young boy just watching the noodle masters at work is absolutely mesmerizing is their commitment skill an incredible attention to detail that is made sure that these noodles have been a firm favorite for generations new one thanks Nina sugar sugar we intentionally argue since the days of the Silk Road Lanzhou lamian has filled the appetites of locals and travelers alike given the city's position Lando may well have been the last chance of at Raiders heading West's have a wholesome meal before entering the barren deserts and difficult mountain terrain so as we were about to head that way ourselves I decided to tuck in for myself and it was everything that it had promised to be good really good [Music] soon enough we are back on the road again heading further west into gansu province our destination is legendary in Chinese history the great fortress of giu Qin the farthest Western points of the Great Wall Jia Yu Guan was once the western border of ancient China and was a very important passage point for anyone wishing to enter or exit the country including those trading on the Silk Road [Music] [Applause] there is actually a really great story about the construction of jiu Guang legend says that the planner said it would take 99999 bricks to build but his superiors questioned his accuracy saying surely it would need more than that so the planner obliged adding just one more brick to his calculations to make a nice round 100,000 however when the construction was actually finished there was of course just one brick left over proving that the planner was correct and that brick can still be seen at giu guan today and it is right there behind me amazing and totally believable over the years with the rising threat of invasion by the great Persian Conqueror Timur walls were strengthened and the military presence increased tensions around the fortress were high in anticipation of war however an invasion never actually materialized and no battles were ever fought here this didn't stop Diu grands reputation as a place of serious strength and power giu guan has always had a fearsome reputation throughout history known locally as guei men Guan or the gate of demons this being the westernmost point of ancient China is where any criminals any wrongdoers or simply anybody who fell out with the government at the time were sent out through the gates banished from their home country they were taken from their homes from their families from everything they loved and everything they knew and out into the barren desert and the unknown many of them would never return of course for us to continue our journey we would have to go through that same gates ourselves tracing the footsteps at the banished criminals and Braves Silk Road traders we passed through the gate and into the desert centuries before us next time on the Chinese Silk Road Chinese legend says that many years ago all of the Jun's here were mountains and in these mountains lived demons warranty is a city that is bursting with culture and color and nowhere is that more true than right here the city's Grand Bazaar [Music]

Channel: Graeme Langford

Views: 829,418

Rating: 4.8625669 out of 5

Keywords: china, china news, china now, ancient china, the silk road, the silk road documentary, silk road, silk road china, silk road documentary, chinese silk road, xian, xi'an, chinese food, travel china, travel in china, china guide, china safe, travel china guide, travel china tours, china holiday, lanzhou, maijishan grottoes china, great wall of china, silk road travel, china travel, china vlog, living in china, china travel vlog, travel, life in china, china documentary

Id: JZGv78iN6Bk

Length: 16min 30sec (990 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 08 2017