Silk Road - Yesterday and Today

Trade Route (Land Silk Road)

Yesterday:

Around 200 BC, the Han Government sent General Zhang Qian as an envoy to build relationships and established trade with small nomadic states. After that the merchants traveled on this route safely and began to carry silk and other goods from China to other parts of the world. And Tang Dynasty reopened the silk route and promoted trading, resulting in a boom in trade with the west.

Today:

Nowadays Chinese government is building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road(also known as The Belt and Road). The initiative calls for the integration of the region into a cohesive economic area through building infrastructure, increasing cultural exchanges, and broadening trade.

See More:
Silk Road history
One Belt One Road


Spice Route (Maritime Silk Route)
Yesterday:	Arabs took the knowledge of Mathematics and Medicine from China and India and worked on it to bring up new sciences like Algebra. Moluccan products were then shipped to trading emporiums in India, passing through ports like Kozhikode (Kochi / 'Muziris' in the olden days), and through Sri Lanka.
Today:	The Silk Road's greatest contribution to the world history was not mere trading of a few commodities but exchange of ideas, art and science between Asia, Europe and Africa. Greek Art from Europe flowed into India whereas Buddhism from India reached out to the world through Silk Road.


Syrian Refugees Crisis
Yesterday:	Aleppo and Damascus where the closest ports to Europe, where good from the Far East would enter into Europe since the Phoenician merchant, the Roman Empire up to the Renaissance.
Today:	Today Aleppo is one of the most devastated cities in Syria. Its civilian population has almost entirely fled. It has become the symbol of the migration that, through Turkey, is leading millions of people into Europe, looking for security and peace.