1, the Silk Road starts from Chang 'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, and passes through the Hexi Corridor (from Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty), and then it is divided into two routes: one starts from Yangguan, passes through Shanshan, goes west along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain, passes through shache, crosses the green ridge in the west, leaves Dayuejia, goes to rest, and crosses the plow and shovel in the west (jiān, present-day Egypt). The other one goes out of Yumenguan, passes through the former Cheshi country, goes west along the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain, goes out of Shule, crosses Qingji in the west, crosses Daguan Bay, and reaches Kangju and Chae Yeon (nomadic in the northwest of Kangju in the Western Han Dynasty, that is, the grassland in the North Caspian Sea, and belongs to Kangju in the Eastern Han Dynasty).

2. The Silk Road is a historically trans-Eurasian trade transportation line, which has promoted friendly exchanges between Europe, Asia, Africa and China. China is the hometown of silk. In the trade through this route, silk is the most representative commodity exported by China. /kloc-In the second half of the 9th century, German geographer Richthofen called this land transportation route "Silk Road", which has been accepted by Chinese and foreign historians ever since.

The Silk Road in a broad sense refers to the long-distance commercial, trade and cultural exchange routes that have been formed since ancient times and spread all over Eurasia, even including North Africa and East Africa. In addition to the above routes, it also includes the Maritime Silk Road, which was formed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and played a great role in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Southern Silk Road, which appeared at the same time as the Northwest Silk Road and replaced the Northwest Silk Road as a communication channel on the road at the end of Yuan Dynasty.

3. Specific sections and cities:

Generally speaking, the Silk Road can be divided into three sections, and each section can be divided into three routes: North, South and China.

Eastern section: From Chang 'an or Luoyang to Yumenguan and Yangguan. (Opened in Han Dynasty)

Middle section: from Yumenguan, Yangguanxi to Congling. (Opened in Han Dynasty)

Western section: from the green ridge to the west, through Central Asia and West Asia, until Europe. (opened in Tang Dynasty)

The following are the names of important cities in various sections of the Silk Road (ancient place names in brackets).

Eastern section

In the route selection of the eastern section, we should consider the safety and convenience of crossing Liupan Mountain and the Yellow River. The third line starts from Chang 'an or Luoyang, joins Wuwei and Zhangye, and then goes along the Hexi Corridor to Dunhuang.

Northern Line: Jingchuan, Guyuan and Jingyuan have the shortest routes to Wuwei, but it is not easy to pass water along the way.

South Line: From Fengxiang, Tianshui, Longxi, Linxia, Ledu, Xining to Zhangye, but the road is long.

Midline: Jingchuan to Pingliang, Huining, Lanzhou to Wuwei, with moderate distance and supply. Xi 'an (Chang 'an): Xumishan Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes, Bingling Temple Grottoes Wuwei (Liangzhou) Zhangye (Ganzhou) Jiuquan (Suzhou) Dunhuang (Shazhou): Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes.