China-Greece relations from Old to New Silk Road

One of the earliest trading routes in history, and the one which had the greatest impact on humanity, the Silk Road is one of the strongest cultural connections between China and Greece.

Some 8,000 kilometers link the cradles of Western and Eastern civilization. It was along this route that Genghis Khan arrived in Europe and Alexander the Great headed east, and almost reached the Chinese province of Xinjiang. The Hellenic world and Eastern Europe have carved science, mathematics and Indo-European languages along these tracks, while the Greco-Buddhist syncretism influenced the development of art and philosophy in China and India.

The first major step in opening the Silk Road between the East and the West came with the expansion of Alexander the Great's empire into Central Asia. For Alexander, as for all ancient Greeks, culture, ideas and opportunities - as well as...