During the COVID-19 pandemic, I undertook a NU3A (Newcastle, University of the Third Age) course via Zoom about the Silk Road. In high school, we were taught about Marco Polo's journey along this route from Italy to China in 1271, as if such a journey was unique.
As we learnt in the course, the Silk Road was just one of China's many trading routes that reached across the world as far as Europe and Africa. Extensive trade had been occurring in this way for thousands of years.
