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The History and Present Situation of the Silk Road
The Silk Road, or simply the Silk Road. It refers to the land passage opened by Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD), starting from Chang 'an (Jin 'an) and connecting Mediterranean countries through Gansu and Xinjiang (this road is also called the "Northwest Silk Road" to distinguish it from the other two traffic routes named "Silk Road" in the future). Because silk products have the greatest influence on the goods transported from the west, we got this name (and many silks were shipped from China). Its basic trend was set in the Han Dynasty, including three routes: South Road, Middle Road and North Road. The Silk Road is a historically trans-Eurasian trade transportation line, which promoted friendly exchanges between Europe, Asia, Africa and China. The opening of the Silk Road effectively promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West and played a positive role in promoting the prosperity of the Han Dynasty. This Silk Road is still an important channel for Sino-Western exchanges, and it still plays an important role in China's foreign economic and cultural exchanges today.