The Silk Road, referred to as the Silk Road for short, refers to the land passage opened by Zhang Qian during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD), which started from Chang 'an (Jin 'an) and connected Mediterranean countries via Gansu and Xinjiang (this road is also called the "Northwest Silk Road" to distinguish the other two traffic routes named "Silk Road" in the future). Because silk products have the greatest influence on the goods transported westward on this road, it is named (and many silks are shipped from China). Its basic trend was set in the Han Dynasty, including three routes: South Road, Middle Road and North Road.

At the end of 19, German geologist Richthofen praised the east-west road opened by Zhang Qian as the "Silk Road". The whole journey is more than 7000 kilometers.