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Niya ruins, Minfeng County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, China

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Niya was once a thriving trade market for the Silk Road but is now reduced to little more that wood and stone. It lays at the end of a long dried up river which the city was named after that winded through the Taklamakan Desert. There was estimated to be about 3,000 people once living there, all long gone now. What happened in the Niya Ruins, we don't know much about. The most likely thing that happened was that the Niya river dried up but we can't tell weather it was before the city fell or after. We do know that although this was once a thriving trade market, it is now dried up like the river which once sustained it.

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Taklamakan Desert, Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, China

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The Taklamakan Desert is 600 miles long from east to west, and in total is 123,550 square miles. Three mountain ranges flank the Taklaman Desert, the Tien Shan, the Kunlun mountains, and the Pamirs. Although most sand deserts are famous for being hot, in the winter the Taklaman Desert can get as cold as -20 degrees celsius. The Silk Road actually didn't go through the Taklamakan Desert but it did go around the northern and western edges of the desert.

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>Right along with the Orentes River, Antioch was near the Eastern trade ports to receive many shipments.

>They were a part of the Royal Road system which helped them communicate through the Silk Road. This is because the Persians had helped construct this much earlier.

>Eventually then founded by the Greeks, then over run by the Romans; Antioch had a center point with connections to both sides of the Silk Road which were East and West.

>This city was a large location for trading goods and had successful farms (including cucumbers).

>Here in Antioch, you would see lots of Silk and Gold being traded.

>Another important city in the Silk Road!

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>In the western end of the Hexi Corridor, the Modern Day Gansu Province is close to the junction between the Northern and Southern parts of the historical Silk Road.

>This town (Dunhuang),  was a town with very important military in order to keep Han Chinese safe from the potential Mongol Invaders.

>Usually traders used merchant caravans in which they did trade metal ware, fragrances, and precious stones such as lapus lazuli, amber, coral, and pearl. >

>Dunhuang was a logistical and important in the Silk Road.
-Fred P.

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Geography: Located at the foot of the Pamir and Tian Shan Mountain ranges.
History: In the past Kashgar was a great place to settle and regroup while hiking through the forest and dessert.
Silk Road: They transported silk, gold, gemstone, and spices on the Silk Road.
-Ezra

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Geography: Turfan is located on a geological depression, with its deepest point 505 feet below sea level.
History: There were many archaeological expeditions backed by European nations to Turfan in the early 20th century.
Silk Road: Fruit trees, melons, and grapes, where commonly traded at the Silk Road in Turfan.
-Ezra