Chaghatai Author:S. Z. Ahmed I dreamt for years and then planned also for years to travel on the Silk Road in Central Asia. This book is my magnificent odyssey over the Silk Road. I have tried to provide an accurate picture of the dramatic journey into Xinjiang in China and the spectacular mountains and deserts that flank the Silk Road. This scenery, rarely glimpsed by the ... more »Western eye, is only one focus of this book, which is much more than a travelogue, but is also a history of Central Asia and Western China. The Silk Road has been for thousands of years a vital trade route joining Europe and the Middle East to Peking (Beijing) China. I tried to demonstrate how history of the area is deposited in the architecture and the lives of the people.« less