Seven Silk Road destinations, from China to Italy: towns that grew rich on trade
(WorldNews China)

We have a German geographer, cartographer and explorer to thank for the name of the world’s most famous network of transconti­nental trade routes. Formally established during the Han dynasty, in the first and second centuries BC, it wasn’t until 1877 that Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the term Silk Road (historians increasingly favour the collective term Silk Routes).The movement of merchandise between China and Europe had been taking place long before the Han arrived on the scene but it was… ......