Q: Which countries did the Silk Roads go through?

A: Starting from ancient China, the northern Silk Road bifurcated through the five Central Asian countries (the Stans) and continued through Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, then to Greece and Italy across the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road was not a single thoroughfare.

The main northern route went from Xi'an/Luoyang through the Gansu Corridor to Dunhuang with two or three trails crossing the desert to Kashgar, then across Central Asia to Europe.

The southwestern Silk Road route (the Tea Horse Road) went from Yunnan and Sichuan through Tibet to India, and the Maritime Silk Road went via sea/ocean via SE Asia and India to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Editor: Ye Ke