4000 years ago, a single critical passage surrounded by hostile desserts and impenetrable mountains connected China to the west and was named the Silk Road. The Silk Road was an interconnected web of routes linking the ancient societies of Asia, Central Asia, Western Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. An ancient trading route, which has become known today as the Belt and Road.
This contributed to the development of many of the world’s great civilizations, as these routes served principally to transfer raw materials, food stocks, and luxury goods across the globe, creating the foundation of the global economic structure.
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UNESCO lists 47 World Heritage sights along the Belt and Road, BRItv, Mary-Jane Mphahele
However, these vast networks carried more than just merchandise and commodities. The constant movement of people, merchants, and goods along these routes brought about the exchange of knowledge, ideas, cultures, and beliefs. This had a profound impact on the history and civilisations of the Eurasian people, as well as Northern Africa.
Ancient sights along the Silk Roads was listed by UNESCO, which recently issued stamps in 3 various languages and currencies issuing the value of Dollars, Euros and Swiss franc in 2017 which marks the acme and the Silk Road nexus. Featuring various world cultural heritage sights since 2014, the 6 Stamps feature historic locations along the Silk Roads. UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage sites around the world, they are of standard value to humanity.
There are 33 historical sites along the millennium-old trade route, featuring many beautiful places, such as the Longmen Grottoes located in China, and the Sulaiman Mountains in Kyrgyzstan amongst many others. These are followed by that are the likes of the historic center of Bukhara in Pakistan and the Kounia Ourguentch in Turkmenistan, and last, but not least we round off by the Historic Tabriz complex in the Republic of Iraq and the city of Safranbolu in Turkey. In designing these stamps, UNESCO intends to give proper homage to these incredible and beautiful places. So far, there are 47 UNESCO heritage sites in China.