Have you ever heard of the Silk Road? Do you know what an important role it plays in the whole world? Did you visit any famous places along the road? Although it's called the Silk Road, people bought and sold much more than silk. The Silk Road went through Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It was 6,500 km from Xi'an to Rome.

My dad is very interested in the Silk Road and he has told me many things about it. Last summer, my family got away for a holiday and went to some places on the road. 

We started at Lanzhou and went on to Wuwei. Wuwei was a very important city on the Silk Road. It connected (连接) three main cities in the area. In ancient times, it was also a capital. Although it's now a modern city, you can get a feeling of history when you visit it. We saw lots of very old stone monuments and people there were very proud of their city's long history.

The next stop was Jiayuguan. It's on the edge (边缘) of the desert, and was also an important place on the Silk Road. It was a busy city with a lot of people coming and going. Even today, it's a city that many business people travel through. An important part of the Great Wall was also built here.

After that, we went on to Yumenguan. I first found out about Yumenguan in the famous poem written by Wang Zhihuan. It was in the Gobi Desert and was the only connection between Central Asia and China. I wonder how people ever made it through the hot desert so long ago. 

This trip wasn't just a scenic (观光的) journey. It helped me understand the history of the area and see how people from different places influenced (影响) each other in many ways.