From China to Anatolia

Saturday, 31 January 2009

Following on from the success of the Second Annual Return To Anatolia National Conference in June 2008 and the Macedonia – Land of Culture, Land of Refuge exhibition as part of the 2008 Demetria festival, Return To Anatolia presented a history exhibition entitled The Silk Road: From China to Anatolia at the Whittlesea Chinese Association's New Year festivities in Lalor, Victoria on Saturday, 31 January 2009.


The Silk Road is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time.


Geographically, the Silk Road or Silk Route is an interconnected series of ancient trade routes connecting Xi’an in China, with Anatolia, extending over 8,000 km on land and sea.  Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and Europe, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world.

Return to Anatolia celebrates the New Year of the Ox with the Whittlesea Chinese Association