Mt Huashan boasts numerous imposing peaks with sheer pre-cipices and overhanging rocks. It has five peaks, the south one is called the Peak of the Wild Geese, the east one, the Peak of the Rising Sun, the west one, the peak of Lotus, the Central one, the Peak of the Charming Maiden and the north one, the Peak of the Cloud Terrace, Teh latter two are not so tall as the former three, yet each presents a kind of scenic beauty of its own. The three main peaks, acclaimed as “the three magnificent peaks under heaven”, stand like the three legs of a tripod in the blue sky.

Places of historical interest and scenic spots, temples and pavilions can be found every where. Owing to its peculiar lie the mountain has its own style of architecture. Many towers, caves and stone steps are built according to local conditions. The cloud-enshrouded cliff path, the sculptured rocky cliff, the floating-in the air Somersault Cliff, the cliff-excavated Thoursand-Foot Precipice, the Hundred-Foot Valley, Laojun’s Furrow, Ear Touching Cliff, Up the Heaven’s Ladder, the Heaven Dragon Peak and so on are all mar-vellous views of precipitous and perilous cliff paths.

Dayan and Xiaoyan Pagodas in Xi’an are still well preserved from Tang Dynasty. They are not only famous at home, but have high reputation in the world as well.

Dayan pagoda was first con-structed in 3rd year of regime period of Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. Mounting on Ci’en Hill, it is also called Ci’en pagoda. Ci’en temple was built by Prince Lizhi in memory of his mother Princess Wende in 22nd of Zhenguan Region of Tang Dynasty. Primirily only five floors were erected and reconstructed in regime of Wuzetan period. Then by recovery and reconstruction several times, the pagoda possesses seven floors with total 64 m high as square and taper in size.

Along two sides of south gate on first floor of Dayan pagoda, two steles were bossed with handwritting by famous cal-ligrapher in Tang Dynasty Zhe Suiliang. Flowers carved at edges of the steles with vivid pattern is for decoration, which is all important to study calligraphs, draw-ings and carving in Tang Dynasty.

Xiaoyan pagoda was famous Buhhist temple in Tang Dynasty. With 15 steps brick building, it is precious architecture relics. Most interesting is that the pagoda had cracked three times and closed naturally which also attracts attentions and were recorded in one stele above lintel of the gate. After that it stood up earthquakes six times and even recovered the cracks naturally, which is deedly strange.

Xi’an known as Chang’an in ancient times, is famed all over the world for it’s glorious history. Specialists and scholars regard it as an inexhaustible treasurehouse of literature while heads of state from many countries and people from all walks of life turn their eyes to this tourist attraction, trying to broaden their knowledge of chinese civilization.

In May 1976 a second underground complex of warriors, called Vanlt No.2, was discovered twenty metres to the north of Vault No.l This led to the uncovcring of Vault No.3, quite close to the first two pits. The ottrer vaults are all smaller than Vault No.l Vault No.2 contains approximately l,4O0 cavalrymen and horses with a more complex layout than No.l. Bronze Chariots from the Qin Cemetery. Two bronze chariots were unearthed from the western side of the Qin Cemetery in 1980. Each chariot has four bronze horses and a bronze figure driver. Its size is about half of a modern combination of a man, a carriage and four horses. Its carriage cab and bronze horses are richly ornamented with very exquisite craftsmanship.

The Dunhuang Grotto Art is composed of the Cave and Yulin Grottos in Anxi. Carving of the Mogao Grottoes , commonly known as 1,000- Buddha Caves, began in AD 366 and continued through a dozen dynasties including the Northern Liang , Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five-Dynasties Period, Song, Huihe, Western Xia and Yuan. The extant 492 caves preserve more than 2, 000 color statues and 45,000 square meters of murals. The mural themes depict Buddha portraits, stories and interpretations of Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist history, legends, portraits of devotees and various decorative patterns. They describe different ethnic groups, people’s lives such as nobles’ outings, singing, dancing and music, farming, fishing and hunting, acrobatics and martial art practice, foreign envoys and merchants on the Silk Road. Some scholars liken these murals to a “library on the wall, ” In the early 20th century some 50,000 pieces of cultural relics were found in the Scripture-Keeping Cave including handwritten documents and more than 1,000 pieces of silk painting, graphic painting , embroidery and calligraphy. Put together the art works would form a 25-kilometer-long art gallery. The Mogao Grottoes were dug in loose sedimentary conglomerate of the the Quaternary Period. Some parts collapsed in earthquakes. But the dry weather has preserved the basic outlook of the cliffs. In the 1940s the Dunhuang Art Research Institute was established at Mogao. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the new government began an overall repair and reinforcement project on 39 caves, saving 1,800 square meters of murals and 200 color statues. The Western 1,000-Buddha Cave and Yulin Grottos at Anxi have been public after renovation.

Grottoes in Dunhuang are a national treasure of China and a cultural heritage of the world. In 1962 the State Council put them among China’s first key cultural relics under state protection and in 1991 the UNESCO put them on its list of world natural and cultural heritages.

According to legend, in 366 AD the vision of a thousand monks inspired a wandering monk, Yue Zun, to cut the first of hundreds of caves into the sandstone cliff face of Mingsha mountain. The legend describes how, arriving at the oasis below the cliffs, he saw myriad golden lights on Mount Sanwei, as though thousands of Buddhas were giving off beams of lights. He subsequently dug the first cave and also cut a statue of the Buddha. Thus started the beginning of a Buddhist way-station on the Silk Road. Today, 492 grottoes are still standing in the 1600-metre-long cliff face. Together they contain over 2,000 terra-cotta statutes (the natural rock is to soft to be carved) and over 45,000 separate murals.

Northern/Western Wei / Zhou Dynasty Period (386 – 557 AD)

From this beginning in the Six Dynasties (or Northern and Southern partition) Period, and for the years of the Northern and Western Wei Periods, twenty-three caves were created showing Indian influences, reflecting the characteristics of the country of origin of Buddhism. The facial features of the sculptures of this period show broad faces and prominent cheeks, fine eyebrows, thin lips, high-set nose, and the body is generally slender and draped in a light clinging robe.

The paintings which adorn the cave walls illustrate parables and stories (Jataka tales) depicting the life of the Buddha. The ceilings are decorated with geometric patterns, animals and legendary figures from Chinese mythology.

The Zhou Dynasty Period caves have the same general characteristics as the Wei.

The caves were constructed during this period by the Turkic-speaking Tobas who formed the Wei Dynasties. They deliberately adopted Chinese manners and customs. At the break-up of the Wei (due to friction concerning the traditional Tobas lifestyle), the Northern Zhou (the ones who unsuccessfully tried to revert to traditional Tobas traditions) remained in power, until the throne of the Northern Zhou was usurped by a general of Chinese or mixed Chinese-Tobas ancestry, Yang Chien.

Sui Dynasty (589 – 618 AD)

The ninety-five caves from this time date from just thirty-eight years. The unique Indian influence is gone, and the statues are often shown in the sitting position, the faces express greater warmth and humanity, less majesty and the clothing is more softly draped. The faces are fuller, with the ear lobes longer and the body halves are not always proportional. Ananda and Kashyapa, disciples of the Buddha are sculpted for the first time.

The paintings from this period are also remarkable for the richness of composition and design. The theme remains the life of the Buddha, but the garments are now ornately decorated, with the men wearing Chinese clothes and the women wearing slim robes with narrow sleeves. Sui artists have in some caves painted over the work of the Wei artists.

The founder of the Sui, General Yang Chien, prudently put all the sons of the Wei emperor to death, and set out on a series of wars that would unite both the North and South for the first time in 360 years. The Sui was short-lived and transitional. The second Sui emperor, the general’s son, Yang Ti, was assassinated by a noble family of Turkish-Chinese descent, who then formed the Tang Dynasty at Chang’ An (Xian). Sadly, the Tobas are erased from history.

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD)

The peak artistic achievements were made during the Tang Dynasty, where two hundred thirteen caves were hewn from the sandstone cliffs. The figures are characterized by being more realistic (although on a much larger scale). The small wall niches, which in earlier years were places for statues, became small rooms, some having multiple levels. As far as size, two large Buddhas were carved during this period, one being 100 feet and another rising 75 feet high.

The paintings during this period also tell the stories of the Buddha, and include pictures of Bodhisattvas, as well as the images of Tang Dynasty nobles and aristocrats. The influence of Persia and India are seen in the often-recurring mandalas, and by the end of the Tang period, multi-limbed and eyed statues started to appear.
The Tang Dynasty, formed by Li Shi-min (T’ai Tsung), was the second centralized Chinese Dynasty.

Later Dynasties

During the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD) and Song Dynasty (960 – 1280 AD) Periods, the inhabitants began to enlarge some of the caves and completely transform others. Thirty-three were made during the Five Dynasties, ninety-eight from the Song Dynasty and three from the Western Xia (or Xi Xia) (1038-1280 AD). The most outstanding is a wall mural that depicts the main features of the terrain from Taiyuan in Shanxi Province to Zhenzhou in Hebei Province, including the representation of over 100 structures standing at the time in the Wutai Mountains.
Characterizations of the artwork during this period are that it is repetitive, and lacks the vitality of earlier eras. It is during this time that the Mogao Grottoes became an artistic backwater.

During the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368 AD) nine new caves were cut into the north face of the cliff, there being no room in the southern face for expansion. These caves are small and are of Mongolian influence. Also large frescoes were painted, many of the figures representative of the Tibetan pantheon.

The Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD) made no contributions to the cave complex, and the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD) additions lack distinction, most of the artists work from this period being redecoration.

In 1907, the British explorer Sir Aurel Stein heard the rumors of the fabulous horde of treasure found by the Taoist monk, Wang Yuan. These treasures had been sealed in a cave to protect it from invaders. It contained texts in Chinese, Tibetan, and other Central Asian languages. The sacking of the Dunhuang (Mogao) Grottoes began in earnest, with the British Museum receiving 29 packing crates of manuscripts, scrolls, paintings, and art relics. The following year, the French explorer Pelliot came and made off with 6,000 scrolls and a collection of paintings.

At the valley between Ji County of Shanxi and Yichuan County of Shanxi, the Yellow River creates the Hukou Waterfall, the second largest waterfall in China. The pouring water of the Yellow River from the height of 70 meters falls to the stone valley which is only 40 meters in width, splashing high spray with thundering noises.

On the Shanxi side of the Jin-Shan Gorge, the landscape is splendid and beautiful. The long history has left Shanxi abundant cultural heritages and wonderful tourist sites. The legendary monarchs of Yao, Shun and Yu all founded
their capitals in Shanxi. The well-known Nanshan Temple and Buddhist Light Temple in the Tang Dynasty, The Wood Pagoda of the Liao Dynasty in Ying County, the murals in the Yongle palace of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, the Old Stone Age relics in Dingcun and Xujiayao, relics of the Yangshao culture, the ancient city in Pingyao, the Nine Dragon Wall in Datong, as well as ancient murals, painted sculptures, carved stones and glazed products scattered all over the province are all valuable historic and cultural treasures. Shanxi is also well-known as “the cradle of China`s traditional operas”. Many traditional operas, with different types, simple and unconstrained styles, simple and unconstrained styles, have been handed down from the ancient times. The rich tourist resources in Shanxi have been attracting more and more domestic and foreign tourist coming for sight-seeing, root- seeking and novelty-hunting.

In the Jin-Shaan Gorge, the Yellow River is blocked by the Qing Mountains and turns to the western Henan. Its rapids cut off the solid rocks at Shhan country and made the precipitous Sanmenxia Gorge. At Mengjin County the Yellow River enters the grand plains created by itself and then winds its way eastward.

The huge amount of silt the Yellow River brought from the Loess Plateau was deposited in the plains and made the riverbed higher and higher and becomes the world-famous “suspension river.

The ancient Chinese people lived for generations in this old land made by the Yellow River and created the brilliant Chinese ancient culture, left us abundant cultural heritages. The ancient walls, tombs , architectures, carved stones are scattered over the Central Plains reflect the glory of the ancient Chinese civilization.

The central Plains is a museum of the history of the Chinese people. You can see the relics of primitive man in Yunyang of Nanzhao and in Xiaonanhai of Anyang, as well as the cultural relics in the Yangshao Village of Mianchi County and in the Dahe Village of Zhengzhou City.

The Central Plains, the center of the land, was a place contested by all military force of every dynasty. It was also ideal for different dynasties to found their capitals in the plains. Luoyang was the capitals for nine dynasties. The White Horse Temple in Luoyang, built in the Han Dynasty, may be rated as the first Buddhist temple in the Central Plains. The Longmen Grottoes, shaped from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, has the reputation as one of the three Buddhist art treasure-houses in China. Kaifeng was the capital for seven dynasties. The famous relics such as the Iron Pagoda, the Dragon Pavilion the Xiangguo Temple are acclaimed by visitors as the acme of perfection. The Street of the Song Capital gives tourists a place to experience the custom of the Song Dynasty. Anyang was the capital for five dynasties. The numerous colorful relics in the Museum of the Yin Dynasty Ruins display the custom, politics and culture in the Yin Dynasty. The Gully of Ten Thousand Buddhas, or the Wanfogou , is the largest forest of pagodas with reliefs.

Zhengzhou, the earliest capital of the Shang Dynasty was found so far, is the birthplace of trade activities in China. With the long history of trade, Zhengzhou has become the famous business city in the Central Plains.

The numerous famous cultural cities and historic sites in the Central Plains form a colorful humane scenery and attract visitors from China and other countries.

Left the Central Plains, The Yellow River arrives at Shandong, a beautiful land with intelligent people.

In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the east part of Shandong was the Qi State and the west part the Lu State. This is why Shandong is called “the land of Qi and Lu”.

Qufu is the hometown of Confucian and the neighboring Zhou County is the hometown of Mencius. The two are the best place to understand the traditional Chinese culture.

Not far away from the hometowns of Confucious and Mencius is the Tai Mountain, which is regarded as the most respected mountains in the China because the Tai Mountain is located in the east where the sun rises.

Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, is an ancient city and called “the City of Springs” as there are many springs in the city.

Many places in Shandong are worth visiting, such as the capital city of the Qi State, the hometown of Pusongling in Zibo, Weifang-the capital of kites, Qingdao, Yantai-a world-famous city for grape wine, Weihai City and the Yimeng Mountain Area. The Yellow River traveled for5, 464 kilometres, and its indomitable spirit has always been impelling the Chinese People to keep forging ahead. The mighty torrent of the Yellow River joins in the blue sea at the point between Kenli County and Lijin County of Shandong. The Yellow River takes the Chinese civilization to the world.

In the Neolithic Age, about 6,000 years ago, excavations show a matriarchal clan was formed at Banpo village in the region. Thousands of years later, the Zhou Dynasty kings established their capital in settlements only a few miles from the present-day city. In 231 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of unified China, set about enlarging the settlement of Xiangyang, about 15 miles northwest of the city. This town, established under earlier Qin rulers as the capital, became heavily populated, so that in 213 B.C., Qin Shi Huang decided to move his court to the south bank of the Wei River. A vast palace was begun, however, work was never completed in his lifetime. Some years later when the Qin fell to the Han (206 B.C.), this and most of the other palaces were destroyed. The conqueror, Liu Bang, first emperor of the Han Dynasty, also established the site of his capital only a few miles north of modern Xi’an.

From about 35 A.D., the town went into a decline that lasted about five and a half centuries, until, in 583 A.D., the Sui emperor, Wen Di, established his capital southeast of Chang’an. The city flourished and developed so quickly under the Tang Dynasty that in time it became the most important city in Asia, with a population of more than a million people living in a vast, well-planned area protected by large walls with ramparts. The area occupied by the old city was greater than that of present-day Xi’an. For over a millennium, from the Second Century B.C., China’s silk was transported from Xi’an to central Asia and Europe. Although damaged by several wars, Xi’an, covering 880 square miles and with a population of 3,915,000 (6,000,000 in the urban area) still contains a host of historical sites.

FOREST OF STELE:

The Forest of Stele, which is located on the site of the ancestral temple of the Tang Dynasty. The Forest of Stele was first founded in 1090 A.D. during the Song Dynasty. It is the oldest and richest collection of steles in China. The stele are numerous enough to be likened to a forest, hence the name. This museum consists of six large exhibition halls, seven corridors and a stele pavilion. There are more than 1,000 stele of eight dynasties from the Han down to the Qing. They are of great value to historians and for the study of calligraphic development.

MAUSOLEUM OF QIN SHI HUANG AND MUSEUM OF THE QIN TERRACOTTA FIGURES:

Qin Shi Huang was the founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty. His tomb is on the south bank of the Wei River, about three miles east of the country town of Lintong. It is one of China’s most important historical sites, and has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Begun in 247 B.C., when Qin Shi Huang was enthroned at the age of 13, the mausoleum is in fact a deep and magnificent underground palace. According to records, more than 700,000 people were employed to construct it, and the work took 36 years to complete. In 1974 and 1976, three massive army vaults were discovered. In Vault No. 1, the largest, 6,000 life-size terra-cotta figures of armed warriors and horses were buried. An underground feat of civil engineering, Vault No. 1 is 351 yards long from east to west, 68 yards wide from north to south, and 5.47 yards deep, covering an area of 15,601 sq. yd. The three army vaults were ascertained by archaeologists to be pits for burial objects accompanying the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. In October 1979, an on-site museum was built above Vault No.1. Since then, two additional structures have been built to cover vaults two and three Ranging from 5.8 to 6 ft. in height, the vivid life-size warrior figures are clad in armor or short gowns belted at the waist, with leggings and tightly-lashed boots, and holding real weapons—bows and arrows, swords and spears.

BIG GOOSE PAGODA:

Located a couple of miles south of Xi’an, the Big Goose Pagoda, the city’s emblem, was first built in 653 A.D. as part of the Ci’em. Xuan Zang, a renowned monk returned from a pilgrimage to India and neighboring countries, proposed that the pagoda be built to store Buddhist scriptures he had brought back. Xuan Zang was made abbot of the temple, where be translated the scriptures into Chinese. From 701 to 704, the five-story pagoda was rebuilt into a seven-story, 331 ft. high structure with stairs winding to the top floor. Built with gray bricks, this pavilion-like pagoda with arched portals on each floor is a masterpiece of Buddhist architecture with a distinct Chinese style.

SMALL GOOSE PAGODA:

This temple is near the Big Goose Pagoda, and was built in 707 AD It has 15 stories and is 148 ft. high. It has a fine and delicate style. On the north and south doors are exquisitely-carved ivory designs and Buddhist figures.

BANPO MUSEUM:

This Neolithic site is a few miles from Xi’an. The Banpo people settled here some 6,000 years ago. They cultivated their land, built horses, and lived as primitive clan. Five excavations since 1954 have uncovered a village of 45 houses, stone-age pottery, tools, and bones. The site covers an area of 60,000-square yards. It is divided into living quarters, a pottery-making center and a graveyard. The museum built to protect the site covers some 33,400 square feet.

But just what feature of the ancient trading route that is China’s Silk Road could be confidently described as the definitive crossroads? Xi’an, Dunhuang, Turpan, Urumqi, Lanzhou? Kashgar, perhaps, at nearly the westernmost point of China? A story about the Silk Road would be such an easier one to tell if there were a zenith, a place you visited from which you could walk away saying … “well, there you go, that’s the high point of the Silk Road.”

Take Jiayuguan Pass – the “Impregnable Pass under Heaven” – for instance. Now there’s a contender for the top spot, surely? The name has such a commanding authority. The Jiayu fort at Jiayuguan Pass, which stands at the western end of the Great Wall of China, lies between the Qilian and Mazong Mountains.

Taking a camel to breakfast
… returning from the “singing sands” at Dunhuang

Traders prepare for the day ahead, Kashgar Bazaar.

It once guarded the east-west passageway in and out of China along the Silk Road route (there are three recognised Silk Road routes, north, south and central and group tours can touch on features of all three, depending on who designed the itinerary).

It takes some effort to get there, too, with an air connection from Beijing to where the Silk Road crosses the Yellow River at Lanzhou, an overnight train to Jiuquan and a coach ride of an hour or so from there. You might wonder what the armies of ancient dynasties must have thought of their careers to have been stationed there. A legend involving the throwing of a pebble against a stone in order to test your likelihood of returning suggests soldiers were glad to leave this isolated outpost.

Consisting of three inner and outer walls and several lines of defense, the now refurbished fort is an impressive testimony to the voracity with which dynastic China guarded itself. But the high point of a Silk Road tour? Naah.

Surely then, the famous Mogao Grottos near Dunhaung in Gansu Province, reputed to be the greatest store of Buddhist art in the world, would be near the top of the list. It was from Mogao where Buddhism spread south and east through China, helping to shape the religious sphere of the nation.The first cave of the Mogao Grottos was carved out of the cliff-face in 366AD. There are 492 caves spread along 1600 metres of cliffs with 2,415 statues within and 45,000 square metres of extraordinary murals adorning the cave walls and ceilings. The piece de resistance is a Buddha statue standing more than 35 metres high. Even if you have only a passing interest in Buddhist relics, the sight of this gargantuan statue is sure to carve an indelible impression on your memory.

You can’t take cameras into the caves. You will have to check them into a station before you can enter, which is just as well. The statues have retained their color through being protected from sunlight and a gazillion flashing cameras would not only pick up where the sun can not penetrate but entirely spoil the very real sense of the sacredness of this place.

At the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (thousand as in very many, not ten hundred), further west along the Silk Road near Turpan in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, you will see how the closer proximity to India lends its influence to the Buddhist relics. The Bezeklik caves are sited within a valley of the Flaming Mountains, so called for the deeply fissured red sandstone slopes which twist heavenward like a flickering fire, as if the desert from which they spring were aflame.

Which is not far from the truth. The Turpan Basin is the lowest point in China and at Aydingkol Lake the elevation falls to 154 metres below sea level, the second lowest place in the world. In summer, the ground temperature can reach 80 degrees celsius. You don’t walk barefoot here, at least not for very long.

Mogao and Bezeklik. Surely these rate as the best the Silk Road has to offer? Well, very nearly.

Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur region is the next major city on the westward journey from Turpan and, like so many others in provincial China, it rises quite suddenly from the highway on which you approach it; a modern metropolis of more than 1.5 million people gathered from a diverse ethnic mix. The Han Chinese, who dominate China’s population (and for whom the one-child policy is enforced, while those of other ethnic groups may have two children) are a minority in the western region, although they account for most of Urumqui’s population.

The Khazak, Hui, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Xibe, Tajik, Uzbek, Manchu, Daur, Tartar and Russians are all represented among close to 50 nationalities in the Xinjiang region. The most populous “minority”, however, are the Uygur, a wonderfully handsome and characteristic people, numbering more than seven million (half the region’s population), who have preserved an age-old lifestyle rich in a unique culture and art.

You will encounter the Uygur at Turpan where they tend one of the richest grape and melon growing districts in China. At Kashgar (or Kashi, as it is called in eastern China), on a Sunday, you will find them at perhaps their most colorful, where they practice their love of trading in Asia’s largest bazaar. Kashgar has drawn traders from afar since before Christ was born and is the meeting point of the northern and southern ancient Silk Road routes
The Sunday bazaar, which spreads through the city over an area greater than you could comprehensively cover on foot in one day, is a phenomenon you are unlikely to experience anywhere else. Kashgar must be right up there in the top ten of Silk Road experiences.

At the eastern extremity of the Silk Road in the Shaanxi Province, very near Xi’an – a city with a 3000 year old pedigree and capital of 11 of China’s dynasties – you will find the famed terracotta warriors of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The warriors have been labelled the “eighth wonder of the world” – a reasonable summary by any standard.

Chanced upon in 1974 by some local farmers sinking a well, the terracotta army consists of 8000 soldiers, generals, horses, chariots, archers plus other relics, each of them a unique identity, standing in a fearsome battle formation, a lasting tribute to the first Chinese emperor to unify the nation. The relics are spread through three excavation pits and command the respect of all who visit the site.

A Silk Road highlight? Given that UNESCO has placed the terracotta army, along with Qin Shi Huang’s (yet to be opened) mausoleum on the World Heritage List, it would be churlish to say the warriors are anything less than a major attraction. But the major attraction? I think not.

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says “you can’t explain the ocean to a frog” and in the same way that a pond-dwelling creature can not hope to grasp the enormity of a body of water larger than the lands which form its shores, the foreign visitor journeying along the Silk Road is challenged to pinpoint the most important features of this most famed route. This is especially true, I believe, for those of us living south of the Timor Sea, accustomed to a chapter of history spawned by only 200 years of European occupation.

There is much to see and do on this great journey, a journey first undertaken by the envoy Zhang Qian, sent by Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty 2000 years ago to forge relations with China’s western neighbors. Later, the Silk Road would be travelled by a host of eminent figures, not least of which was Marco Polo.

There are a hundred names you could add to this story. At Lanzhou, for instance, you would have missed an experience were you to omit from your itinerary a climb by foot or vehicle to White Pagoda Hill, which offers commanding views of the Gansu Province capital. At Danhuang, make time for some fun at Mingsha Dunes with a camel ride and a toboggan down the “singing sands”.

In Jiuquan, be sure to stop at the Jiuquan Hotel for a banquet. The chef there is a treasure who offered our group a memorable meal, which in China is really saying something. We were told a group of ten could enjoy a banquet for 400 yuen, which amounts to about A$8 a head. The jade cups of this city are also famous.

As for museums, you are truly spoilt for choice. In Xi’an’s Shaanxi Museum of History you can see priceless antiquities in superb condition dating from 221BC and before. This museum is acclaimed as the gallery of Chinese culture and you would be hard to please if you left unimpressed.

A new and relatively unknown museum in Xi’an is the one dedicated to the Han tombs and the nearby Yinglang Mausoleum excavation is, while minor compared to the Qin Shi Huang warriors, no less fascinating. Make time, also, for visiting the museums of regional towns and cities which, with the vast riches of China’s heritage to call on, frequently feature relics of great significance.

When in Urumqi, you are likely to visit Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) in the Tianshan Mountains, a place of such beauty with snow-capped peaks and conifer forests it should come as no surprise that it is held sacred by Taoists. Along the way, you will pass encampments of the nomadic Kazhak people and perhaps stop to take a look inside one of the round-framed tents with felt coverings known as yurts which they call home. Kazhak hospitality is legendary and the only regret I carried from China is that time could not be afforded to cross Tianchi and spend a few nights living with the Kazhaks and exploring the mountains by foot or horseback. Next time… for sure.

The names you could pull from this story are only some of the parts that make up the Silk Road. And you could reasonably presume that when it comes to the world’s oldest international trading route, the sum of its parts are greater than the whole. There are so many places to see and flavors along the Silk Road that the best thing you could do before heading west of Xi’an is to undertake some careful research.

Package tours offer the best way for the first-time visitor to China to travel the Silk Road. Even for return visitors, the convenience of a guide and translator helps smooth the journey so much that you would visit as an independent traveller only if you had some mastery of the language, plenty of time to spare and a sense of adventure equalled only by your thirst for a challenge. Standard package tours take in specific Silk Road routes and structure itineraries very tightly. Decide first on exactly what you want to see based on research and then choose a package tour product that best suits your needs or, budget allowing, have an agent experienced with China tourism to tailor a tour to your needs. Above all, be aware that you don’t “enjoy” China and the Silk Road in the same way you might “enjoy” a visit to the Great Barrier Reef or some other tourism mecca. The Silk Road is a lesson in the history and cultural evolution of the world’s most populous nation and promotes a sense of awe and wonder that will leave you, too, struggling for words to describe the experience.