North and South Forks of the Silk Road

The Silk Road is a series of trade routes through regions of the Asian continent mainly connecting Chang'an in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. Trade on the Silk road was a major factor in the developing of the great civilizations that was connected by the route. The road divides into north and south routes to avoid the Tibetan Plateau. The Tibetan Plateau is not just the largest but also the highest area in the world. It formed due to a full-speed collision of two continental plates. Tibetan Plateau contains Mount Everest and 13 other peaks that reach higher than 8000 meters and hundreds of peaks of 7000 meters of higher. The Plateau averages more than 5000 meters in elevation and with higher elevation the less dense the air is and the harder it is to breath. Due to the physical toll the Tibetan Plateau had on people not accustomed to the area, the trade route was divided and the people either went north or south of the plateau.

Information taken from:
http://www.crystalinks.com/silkroad.html
http://geology.about.com/od/structureslandforms/a/tibetanplat.htm

The Silk Road: The Greatest Cross-Cultural Contact Prior to 1500

The Silk Road was an ancient route established around 206 BC in the Han Dynasty of China for the political contact and trading of goods with the many kingdoms of Central Asia. It consisted of a variety of land and sea routes connecting nearly all of Eurasia. Although it is called the "silk road," silk was not the only product traded along the route. Gold, precious metals and stones, ivory, coral, spices, tea, paper, textiles, and chinaware were also traded between the east and the west. Silk was the most prominent product because it was used as a form of currency in China.

The Silk Road opened up an entire new world to people living western and eastern Eurasia. Many people in the west were exposed to Chinese products for the very first time and were amazed by all the new materials and goods. China, really for the first time in its history, stopped isolating themselves from the rest of the world. For the first time the Chinese traded with foreign countries and brought in foreign ideas and products. The trade along the Silk Road allowed civilization to grow as people had new resources and tools to expand.

The Silk Road was not only a way for goods and products to be traded. People in Eurasia were also exposed to new cultures, religions, ideas and technology. Buddhism spread to China and other areas from India and Christianity spread from the wet over into the east.

Information was taken from the following websites:
http://gallery.sjsu.edu/silkroad/intro.htm
http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html#8