Original subtitles

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saying goodbye to Kazakhstan and Central

Asia we head east towards China the

border is a bustling hub of activity in

a remote part of the world where traders

from many of the former Soviet republics

come the deal Goods will be crossing the

core gas past moving through three

provinces on our way to Shia the western

region of China is the remote area and

after 2000 years is just as the

traditional way of agriculture and the

trades and almost no industry in ancient

time after liberation and established of

Xin chào autumns region the central

government pay more attention for

promote this area by either giving a lot

of money to help the social construction

and also by encourage young people to

come into this area despite the many

nationalities that live here a group of

American Motorcyclist is an unusual

sight and draws a crowd

getting licensed to ride in China is a

specialty of semitte our partner in the

Middle Kingdom well this is the

different from province to province and

like this year with just ravine

it's much easier because all the

Traverse license Vehicles license and

vehicle plate we've done before and

everything ready

it's great to be back in China oh yeah

it's totally different here in some ways

than where I was in the East but it's

really exciting and this time I get to

keep this fancy license with little help

from our new friends the bikes are

licensed and ready to go

leaving the town of Shing gay we head

out for the first day of riding in

western China our destination is a rum

cheek about 250 miles away over a

variety of roads

I thought when we were crossed into

China I was kind of apprehensive because

I thought it was just gonna be total

crowds everywhere we went but Western

trying to sound like that

wide-open spaces a few smaller type

towns and stuff a lot of the roads have

been decent a lot of the roads that you

spent horrible just for rain this area

actually said lung expressway originally

National Road three one two we start

from Shanghai to all the way to

northwest part of China the total

distance around 4,800 conquers totally

as the old national highway is replaced

by a modern freeway road construction in

western China is a fact of life that

we'll have to get used to it was the bad

road that was good the nice road is just

boring like a you fall asleep you sit

there and sing songs listen to yourself

try to not fall asleep and that's why we

want to drive faster than the chase

vehicle because at least it got your

attention but the first part was really

fun going over the edges through

barriers and when you come to a barrier

I found out the trick is have the black

visor down and you think you are

important and then they just look and

they see sixteen of us coming and the

gate cooperative is great the best roads

ever been on but actually like the

little detour is much better fighting

around everything highway development in

the region is an important part of

China's overall plan to promote the

growth of the western parts of the

country and a sign that greater changes

will surely follow for now it's still

possible to experience life in the small

villages along the national highway

before the changes

chicken has very deep dish and it's

popular in this area and started

originated from India on this area

especially one chicken and rather to put

some other things like potatoes this

kind of dish similar is now become more

and more popular in the area

at lunchtime when Rick was pulling all

the chicken legs and the chicken beaks

out of the food that's kind of exciting

he was eating them figuring out how to

say soy sauce once I get that one down I

think maybe the food will be quite all

right at that point up next the city

furthest from any ocean in the world

I just looked at the trip odometer we've

done about 80 100 kilometres now since

Istanbul right around 5,000 miles so

we're removing with the development of

the region occurring at a rapid pace the

population of the jingyang autonomous

region has risen to more than 20 million

including many different ethnic

minorities a rum sheet is the capital of

the province in the world's most inland

city since orange is located in the

center of the Eurasia it has the typical

dry continental climates with a long

summer and a long winter but a short

spring and autumn in this era there is a

rich production of fruits like apricot

email and then apples peaches pears and

Malins grapes in autumn and here is the

international market but it keeps

tradition from the ancient Silk Road and

here is the the market and the biggest

bazaar biggest the bazaar in the city

and all the people will come in here

then during the day or the weekends to

buy things which includes the local

handicrafts like we grow hat and the

knife and we grow instrument carpets

food etc I thought everyone living in

China were Chinese not so you take the

northwest Jun yang province up there it

covers one-sixth of the entire area

Islam is their faith and they have

retained their own distinctive dress and

culture and dance and their way of

living well right now it's kind of

interesting because all of a sudden

maybe it's because we cross with our

last border but it's like a home this

trip will actually end we don't have

that much further to go so I don't I

haven't counted up but there aren't that

many more riding days we still have a

lot of distance to cover and a lot of

things to see but I'll be home in three

weeks so all of a sudden this trip that

was just going and going going

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well I like the motorcycle because I

feel like I'm within the atmosphere that

I can smell things I can experience the

heat I can feel the cold and when you

ride there is no J's and all you're like

the most useful skill that I had it was

having a number of years on third lakes

and I've certainly put them to the test

on this check here so I think the

biggest thing is to tell myself to try

to ride my own ride I tend to stay in

back where where I can avoid the

testosterone what's left

the testosterone urged to get in there

with the guys and maybe ride over my

head so so I try to be patient and stay

within what I think are my limits but if

by no means an easy thing to do you

can't just you have to have you have to

have the skills the technical skills you

have to have just the wherewithal to do

something like this but you also have to

have the mental aspect to just endure

you know it's like you just deal with

stuff

the travellers centuries ago had to go

much slower the roads didn't exist as we

know him today which way you went was

determined by it was a war going on who

they'd raised toes etc one trying to

compare what happened in the Silk Road

500 years ago 800 years ago thousand

years ago to travel on the Silk Road

then compared to what we've done I think

it's quite a contrast how a journey is

much quicker you know it was almost two

months

how journey has a support van we have

water in the support van and we have

water on a motorcycle the dangers are

different yeah we're not gonna lose our

water and die of dehydration of the

desert warriors and bandits are gonna

show up and steal our camels you know

but a flat tire getting sent off a road

by de large truck same thing we need to

get to the caravanserais or you need to

get your hotel

turf on is a remarkable oasis on the

Silk Road lying 154 meters below sea

level it is the lowest spot in China and

the second lowest depression in the

world it's one of the major towns in

jingyang that remains closest to

traditional Leaguer culture it was an

important staging post on the Silk Road

and was the center of Buddhism before

being converted to Islam in the eighth

century it's also the hottest spot in

China with temperatures regularly

exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit and it

was like a hundred and eight degrees

Fahrenheit or what 42 degrees Celsius in

the shade and when you ride there is no

shades and all you're like many of the

smaller streets Interphone are covered

by grapevine trellises which provide

shade from the heat

I think it's credible it's awesome

blazingly hot I mean like your read

about these people under such extreme

weather conditions laugh and smile more

than any other people I know

melons so every summer during May to

October is the height tourist season in

this area many foreigners from all over

the world and also the guests from all

part of China it come to Rome Teeter fun

kashgar for visit the different minority

nationalities and the different natural

resource makes the tourism one of the

best part in China the relative coolness

of the evening brings vibrant activity

to the streets of turf on little chance

rain means that these young men can

enjoy a game about door billiards

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the city street market pulses with

activity late into the year with vendors

selling everything from kebabs to more

unusual foods the coolness from this

fountain makes one forget about the heat

and how bone-dry the region really is

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in the morning looking out over the

rooftops of turf on we watch as the city

wakes up

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this tower in the mosque next to it were

built in 1777 the temple is empty but

services are just about to begin today

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one of China's greatest public works

projects are the irrigation canal

surrounding the city more than 3000

kilometres of these channels bring water

from the nearby mountains into the city

for irrigation of the farmlands here the

channels are above ground but they

travel for many miles below the surface

of the earth to reach this point which

reduces loss by evaporation known as the

karez more than 1000 of these wells are

located around turf on and they're

unique to this part of China

some of them were constructed more than

2,000 years ago by hand without modern

machinery or equipment grapes of the

primary recipient of the water and the

crop for which turf on is best-known

grape Valley is on the outskirts of the

city this is a true Oasis with

overflowing life in a parched desert the

valley is filled with great trellises

and well ventilated brick buildings that

are used for drying the grapes

it's a wonderfully refreshing place to

visit in the midday heat

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sweet raisins are a major export of turf

on

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in the afternoon were invited to take

lunch in a local home which is an

opportunity to taste the delicious fruit

of this rich oasis of course there were

sweet raisins and the famous honey

melons but the real treat traditional

hand-pulled noodles that are known

across China as the best in the country

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simple delicious food in a beautiful

setting with kind and generous hosts

it's moments like this that make a

journey along the Silk Road so rewarding

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the legendary flaming mountains outside

of chiffon provide the backdrop for the

start of riding on day 41 of the Silk

Road adventure we've traveled almost

6,000 miles so far without any serious

miss house but reminders of the dangers

we face our constant companions on a

journey like this bikers don't usually

like to talk about it but there is that

at every given second from the moment

that motorcycle is on in the morning

until you turn it up at night any given

second there's an absolute potential for

death it's an absolute potential to

crash and really hurt yourself and this

kind of trip you might you might die

certainly last year one of my comrades

did die and I'm unfortunately all too

aware of that but but we've not

intentionally stuck ourselves in harm's

way beyond the ecstasy's of the trip

itself it's not like we've jumped out of

an airplane with a chute packed by

somebody we don't know or gone over the

falls in the barrel keeps your blood

running and keeps you young and we kind

of cheat a little bit and get away with

it and it's kind of fun you don't

overstep your boundaries you go home

upright that day the vast emptiness of

the Gobi Desert provides us with a real

geocache opportunity a gift for the next

riders who come this way we are at our

secret location low riders over five

Silk Road grow and the cancer of love

what are we doing Cris starting a new

tradition yes we're gonna start a globe

riders tradition right here on this very

spot we're gonna mark it with a GPS

Waypoint and in two years and the next

Silk Road tour comes through they can

dig it up and find the buried treasure

we got our GPS you get the GPS we're

gonna mark the exact coordinate I'm

gonna give it to the guys the lucky

person who finds it first

boy what a kids the treasure and they

have to bring it back proof positive

that they actually found it so here we

go and also we'd like for them to carry

the tradition on so they're gonna have

to bury something to all say after the

deposit something back in this canister

for the next Silk Road tour to come

as well so we're gonna keep it going

yeah all right all right okay let's go

dig to the top noodles are doing a

wonderful job

he's got the digging goggles on to the

camera

digging goggles the cancer is being

placed

we dust the heli we dub it pleasure

nipple pleasure nipple a resonable the

old pleasure neva continuing across a

seemingly endless desert we leave

xingyang and cross into gansu province

along the hexi corridor on both side of

this province they are mountains so

that's reason we call this corridor the

terrain just like corridor and before

the caravan goes through the corridor

and they stay overnight in this cities

we even call this cities bright stars

our evening stars of this area and this

city get prosperous because the location

and only along the sea corridor along

the corridor there's some people living

and along the corridor just a few cities

like here Groupon and then lines Oh

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we're getting into more traffic more

populated densely populated areas and

plagues there's such an energy here the

people always just moving around or I

don't know it's it's just fun to be a

part of but Chinese China has been a

surprise it's just been it's been a it's

been fun it's just to get be a part of

it and see something that's happening

and I think this country is really on

the move there's gonna be a lot of

things coming out

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I'm ready to go I've enjoyed myself

thoroughly the Gobi Desert has been a

lot of fun our hotels here are nice just

been a wonderful trip mostly desert look

nice and warm

nice nice wind a little sand grit but

great ride when we write I try to

control like the speed and position

something like this generally and I

think that can control easily but

sometimes there's difficulties to handle

some people know like 2 wide by

themselves where people have their own

personality when you travel in a group

you have to take into consideration what

everybody else wants you shouldn't just

go off and do your own thing and hold up

the group or cause some problems for the

group in doing that sometimes you come

to a city you like to just stay a little

bit but on a group like this you have to

keep on going

and you sit in the saddle 6 hours 9

hours a day and when it's hot it's not

easy when it's cold you shiver so it's

obvious we had some stretches where you

couldn't see the hand in front of your

eyes and meanwhile you're going maybe

3040 miles an hour and you have no idea

where you're going and the feel is

wobbly because it's all sand and do you

make a little bit go little bit to the

right a little bit to the left you can't

tell it's all clouds we'd hit extremely

softer consistency of talcum powder the

dust was so thick I at one point I was

following a dump truck and I never did

see the dump truck and it was a

challenge as it turns out we end up with

one man on the ground on that particular

encounter so and we had several other

ones like that throughout the day it's

kind of boring not much happening and I

figured to liven things up prepared I

just

an endo he's taking some soil samples to

bring home I can save him for a while

don't be pretty good it might be mixed

with a few fillings but other nuts are

in good shape

okay so we remember cases were ready to

roll a little bit of a mess on these

roads there's construction too they're

featuring us off the highway and onto

these dirt roads but it's just absolute

man with trucks everywhere three wide

and some soft gravel and hardback and

whatnot I took a couple spills and lost

the windshield on the last one and

determined that that'll be the last bill

of this trip so a few aches and pains

but nothing serious the bikes in good

shape and but it was just more than

those Phil's it was just the tremendous

tenseness all day dealing with the roads

you go in and off of the paved which is

rough in itself and then you get onto

the dirt did my good deed for the day

yeah Roger got a flat tire and I was

able to dig out my air pump and fix it

kit just in the nick of time

how's the riding today

pretty dusty pretty dusty

and to think that we're doing this route

because of the road construction on the

route we're supposed to be taking hard

to believe a lot of road construction on

this road exactly the strategy just to

take your time try not to follow anybody

too closely and eat too much dust other

than that it's actually kind of fun in

the morning I was a little bit freaked

out because I was dodging the trucks but

then I got into the groove and the one

thing that happened is the group spread

out there were a couple of incidences

and I stopped to help and then I stopped

didn't need my help so I kept going and

the upshot it wasn't riding by myself I

knew there were people behind me so

everything happened I had backup but I

didn't worry about anybody else and then

I started having fun because it was me

against the conditions and the

conditions were the dust and the roads

and the potholes and the trucks and the

buses and I could make whatever

decisions I needed to I don't had a

great day well we're gonna make it

that's but all I can say

we'll get there

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most importantly at first when you're

riding two up is the passenger one false

moves by bit Benziger he could put the

bike down

however he has to absorb all my mistakes

takes courage you can't see what the

drivers good about Great War first was

constructed in two century BC and after

that each dynasty rebuilt Great War so

the first dynasty

I mean feudal dynasty's Qin Dynasty

please construct the first Great War the

total distance is five thousand

kilometers and then Han Dynasty rebuilt

great war further north even longer for

the first Great War the total distance

is five thousand kilometers and hang

Great War might be doubled is less and

further knows after that like each

dynasty rebuilt Great War there are some

other nomadic tribes keep invading from

northern parts into central area from

time to time so the war effectively

stopped this nomadic people entering to

the central of of China

jo-ann is a recently developed

industrial city of iron and steel

production located in the middle of the

hexi corridor when we arrived we were

greeted by a local Chinese motorcycle is

back for 4-5 years 100 times falling

down by this bike because I always go to

know rose

so it's China changing for the better do

you think it's getting gonna be good you

see my friends we're getting roughly 20%

increase salary audiometry hundred

percent the average is 10 percent per

year for you so people are gonna have

money so they can travel they don't even

we have you're not for money but we

don't have the partition on the other

side of the parking lot John is using

all of his communication skills to

convince this young student to go for a

ride yeah this is a rider's cultural

exchange

[Applause]

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so this morning we got off and we're

gonna have a nice easy day just roll

them along the highway so let started

out fine left town nice roads and stuff

and then about Oh probably up 50 miles

outside of town we ran into this

construction that we probably passed

about five kilometres and trucks just

stopped so we just passed pass and pass

and we got off then there's a huge

highway construction zone there and it's

just utter chaos there's just always

like ants around an anthill it's just

amazing people drive in the desert often

road walking traffic so bad that you

just look at it from afar and if they

forget it it's another way but there's

no other way there's only one way to go

or you have to go through it so we kind

of threading our way through and both

probed a couple of places found a way to

get get around a lot of stop traffic in

between trucks and buses and tractors

after that I wasn't too bad a little bit

of construction and probably another 50

miles or so and came up with this one

town and we got printed off police

escort we came up to the brand-new

Expressway and this is like Debose

modern best highway I've ever been on

it's just the contrast is just

unbelievable but oh you should see some

of the subtle signs of the expressway

earth are just hilarious

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relatively trouble-free - we got to the

wall here everybody goes oh we got to do

then hey that's the great wall but

that's the great hole

we shop here for some photos and some

people are having lunch and everything

but gosh motorbiking in China is a real

adventure I used to have 250 lights now

I have one and a half however I think

there's still a good connection here and

there's still a good connection here so

we'll try it you know Roger I think if

you put a new bulb in there you'll be

good to go this bike may be made by

Honda by the time I get home we're doing

a lot of substituting you ride all day

and you're really tired and what we're

doing and in the places we're doing them

at is incredibly unique so the moment

you stop riding there's a crowd of

people around and in the morning when

you do it it's it's great then you talk

to everybody who's arriving in the

afternoon everybody who comes around you

when you're getting gas you talk to them

to smile and you take their pictures

with them but at the end of the day and

if it's been a really hard day riding

and you park your bike at the hotel and

all you want to do is get your bag out

of your pan here get your bike cover it

up turn it off get in that hotel and get

your off and like just take a

shower and here these people are they

didn't realize they have no idea how

difficult of a day

what you've enjoyed that day you're just

to them like this amazing incredible

thing that they've never seen that's one

of the more difficult things for me

because I find myself on certain day

it's just you know I can't I can't

explain what the GPS unit is today I

just want to show

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life does not suck got a motorcycle

that's um alright people to ride that

life is good no

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beautiful day here in China 9,000 feet

about time we elevate this show

I'm gonna give it a shot

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and I just go stop it go

but I need to look at my bike again oh I

can see it no on the group distant third

last day of the riding Roberts yawn and

people are getting a little touch here

little irritated I can see energy going

in the group we got off the highway I

think that was good for everybody

because got some work got to fight the

dust and get the attention on the road

and just getting forward it's like it's

not over yet but some people have cabin

fever

for the last hour or so I've been ridin

with Genghis Khan he's doing a fantastic

job as a pilot here on a 650 as you can

see we're heading down pretty lumpy

bumpy road way to LAN Zhu and I'd say

this has been one of the more exciting

backroads of China here that I've seen

yet on this tour we're basically trying

to steer away past caught up

construction zones and trucks there's a

lot of dust going on a lot of fumes

we saw some pigs a little while ago in

the back of a truck so it's a pretty

much having the adventure of a lifetime

every day is better than the last and

we're going to see what's up around the

corner because if it's any better than

this

I don't know what the heck it could be

[Applause]

well construction all over this place I

can't believe every time we got off the

freeway we're going through rocks and

construction like what's coming up ahead

looks like B's is taking things about as

hard as we are over here this is

definitely not easy riding today and

we've been doing this for about 90

minutes now but this is kind of one of

those yin yang experiences here you know

it's it's it's hard and it's in some

levels kind of dangerous at any given

moment there's a potential for mishap it

could just be a minor mishap or it could

be something serious but at the same

time it's really fun really enjoyable

we're having an absolute blast so we're

here in China the land that invented the

yang Yang and we're living proof of that

concept right here on the road where is

that freeway come on baby you know

there's a times where you're just like

you can find yourself saying out loud

and your helmet holy you know and

then there's the times you feel the grin

on your face and your cheek muscles push

up against your helmet and all this and

you realize you're just smiling by

yourself inside your helmet I don't

think it would be as good as it is

without that potential that every second

potential I don't think any of us would

do it if we knew that it was going to be

an absolutely safe constantly if there

was a cushion of padding around us to

protect us the entire way we'd sit on

our couches and watch television if

that's the kind of people so

easily put its knew you like to push

things in the push that on long zoo is a

hazy sprawling metropolis in the major

industrial center along the hexi

corridor the city was an important

caravan stop along the Silk Road and the

center of defense and communications in

this part of China long zoo is situated

along the banks of the Yellow River in a

narrow Valley which makes it an ideal

trap for pollution and exhaust fumes I'm

scared

impressed with China 1.4 billion people

with the size of this with the natural

resources that they have with the work

ethic that they have with the burgeoning

growth that they're experiencing that

they are going to be a force to deal

with so economically China is is the

moving power

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the Yellow River is always shaped the

Commerce and culture of Gansu's

provincial capital the sheepskin raft

has been a new since ancient times as a

way of ferrying goods and people across

the Mighty River today it's mostly

visitors who use the service of the

ferryman the rafts are made out of wood

and treated sheep skins the skins are

tied into bags with openings in the legs

through which air is blown to inflate

them

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the raft sir light and could easily be

carried up river on foot

today motor driven boats bring the

returning ferryman back upstream the

river is fast and powerful with strong

waves and currents and a journey on the

ancient sheepskin raft is unlikely to be

soon forgotten another important use of

water from the Yellow River

peasants up and down the river imitated

the ingenious construction of long zoo's

water wheels that were used as a natural

energy source to irrigate the farmlands

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these waterwheels were built in 1993 but

the design goes back almost 500 years

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don't say for a good time please call to

room 22:14 rich the famous paper

airplane toss that was awesome a huggie

took about 10 minutes and folded up a

paper airplane in just the right way we

sat there and watched him toss it out

the window and it did about 10

revolutions in front of us then dropped

down a story did it under 10 and then we

lost sight of it

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at night in China it doesn't matter what

time it is every city the Sun Goes Down

in the city center everybody comes out

everybody lost the street there's food

being cooked they're stuck being sold

there's people hanging out eating

noodles people drinking it's sorts of

streets my culture is just unbelievable

when you're young you make friends

there's this loyalty the intensity to

how you make friends is your kid in like

in the university days it doesn't happen

that often as adults and the situations

like this where we're thrown together

for let's throw fish about fifty three

days there's that intensity to

friendships that develop you don't get

most of the time there was a small crowd

and Roger went up and got his key and

then there's been giving rides to the

young and the old we started out with

there's probably been a five year old on

the back of that up to about a fifty

year old lady and the crowd has

continued to grow we're gonna top the

evening off with some big-time fireworks

so we're all looking forward to that

great trip on the xian may be hot 104

yesterday there bring it on we're ready

to go I'm ready park let's get started

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and this man 1001 does chignon good

sense to come out of piano

we made it and I'm so happy I almost

want to just jump into here and

celebrate it's been a great ride a

wonderful ride we're gonna go ahead with

Colbert and celebrate winding down here

this like the end of the road so kind of

sad in that way but feeling good that we

made it and everybody's here safe and

sound absolutely amazing I don't know

how those people did at 2,000 years ago

and travel across the desert and up the

mountain passes it's hard enough on a

motorcycle let alone camel and horses

now the day sucks

this is Cheyenne a city of six million

people and one of the most important

cities in Chinese history in ages past

it was the imperial capital and the

largest city in the world today xi'an is

the capital of Shanxi province and the

largest and most developed city in this

part of China one of the great

attractions here is the two

thousand-year-old

army of terracotta warriors they were

discovered in 1974 when local farmers in

search of water drilled a well and

uncovered pottery fragments arranged in

battle formation over 6,000 individually

carved soldiers equipped with horses and

weapons have been unearthed from this

site making it one of the greatest

archaeological finds of all times during

the Western Han Dynasty xi'an was the

starting point for the Silk Road today

it's the end of our adventure a journey

that began 53 days ago in Istanbul with

home on the horizon and 8,000 miles

behind us each one of us is free to

remember and relive the incredible story

of the ancient and modern Silk Road

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I think if one takes a journey on the

Silk Road one in a real sense gets an

education every day has been an

adventure something different the people

have just been absolutely wonderful it's

made me more aware that we are one world

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for more information on the silk road

adventure with Hellgate peterson

including the live journal for this and

other globe writers adventures please

visit our website

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