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originated in China
"Goddess of Silk" - Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih

Silk trade was actually started before the Silk Road was officially opened in the second century BC.

Han Wu Di's ambassadors traveled as far west as Persia and Mesopotamia, bearing gifts including silks.

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http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol3num2/5_bloom.php
Paper originated in China then moved into Japan, Korea, and Central Asia.  After a long time after paper came to Central Asia, it made its way to India.
After Islam was in the Mediterranean and Western Asia, paper was in these places.
Papyrus was a form of paper in Egypt.

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Originated in China. They believed that tea had

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The Silk Road was a series of trade routes from China to Korea to Europe (stretched across Eurasia). There were land and sea routes that connected the many countries along the trade route. Religions like Islam and Buddhism were passed on through the routes. Commodities that were passed included items of food, precious stones and metals, methods, and clothes. Animals were also traded. Despite the positive outcomes of the Silk Road, there were many dangers, like harsh weather conditions and disease. Lastly, the Silk Road had a vast impact on countries. Examples include the Middle East introducing glass to China and printing techniques to Europe.

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Origins of Religions
Islam spread from Arabian peninsula
Buddhism spread from India
Traders
Most of the traders were Buddhist but the Muslim traders were competing with the Buddhist traders.
Religions passed on through traders that go through each region of the Silk Road.
Changing Religions
Buddhism and Islam were altered to fit the Chinese cultures when they entered China.

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Buddhism started from India and went to China.

Paper-making & printing techniques were brought to Europe from the Middle East.

Dynamite was used in Europe, which was a factor of both war and use of weapons increasing.

Europe passed China in natural sciences and engineering.

China exported silk, porcelain, and other materials.

"Glass was introduced to China from the Middle East during Tang Dynasty, as is evidenced by the twenty pieces of excavated glassware in Famen Temple, Shaanxi Province."

Chinese food was very limited, but other countries introduced vegetables to China. China introduced tea.

http://www.absolutechinatours.com/specialtopic/silkroad/Silk-Road-Cultural-Exchanges-Science-and-Technology.html

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Geographical setting of the Silk Road (Anika) 

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Geographical setting of the Silk Road (Anika) 

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Source: https://asiasociety.org/geographical-setting-silk-roads
"The Silk Road network is generally thought of as stretching from an eastern terminus at the ancient Chinese capital city of Chang’an (now Xi’an) to westward end-points at Byzantium (Constantinople), Antioch, Damascus, and other Middle Eastern cities."
Asia made up majority of the territory
Eurasia was the most heavily involved and there were many mountains
Sea Routes: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/silk-road/maritime-silk-route.htm
East China Sea Route:
"The East China Sea Route enjoys a long history of about 3,000 years. It was during the Zhou Dynasty that Ji Zi, a court official, was sent on a journey east, setting off from Shangdong Peninsula's Bohai Gulf and navigating his way across the Yellow Sea, which led to the introduction of sericulture (silkworm farming), filature and silk spinning into Korea."
South China Sea Route:
"Guangzhou represented the starting-point of the South China Sea Route, which extended across the Indian Ocean and then on to various countries situated around the Persian Gulf. The types goods dispatched for trade consisted mainly of silk, china and tea, while imported merchandise included a variety of spices, flowers and grasses – hence it being commonly referred to as the sea's 'China Road' and the sea's 'Flavor Road'."

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Food
tea, saffron, jasmine, salt, oil, chillies, mint, almonds, sugar, hemp
Animals
lapdogs, peacock feathers, camels, horses
precious stones and metals
crystal, jade, brassware, amber, gold, silver, metalwork, glassware
methods and technology
crossbow technology, paper-making & printing techniques, water well drilling, cast iron technologies, alchemy, sericulture Cloth textiles, wool,   cotton, silk, woven goods

Other
gun powder, compass, dynamite,  Chinese medicine (acupuncture),  sandalwood,

Islam spread to South Asia
traditions, languages, ideologies

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Mongolia, India, Greece, China, Rome, Pakistan, Korea, Persia, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Krgystan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Turkmenistan

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14th century- black death plague affected Europe, believed to come from the silk road from Central Asia.
- theory: trading furs contained flea eggs, which hatched in Europe, then infected rats which infected humans,
https://asiasociety.org/education/silk-road

DANGERS!!!
* Extreme weather conditions
* Rocks to climb across?
* Journey was through a dessert in some parts, so faces sandstorms
* Starvation and thirst
* Bandits stole precious material from the merchants.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ZwXu_bvk-oa0lITjhONmJrZ3M/view