| Actual Image
Silk Road: China (2)
meyerd
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 97 W: 15 N: 608]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif) (1490) | Silkroad travels: Kashgar
The Kashgar oasis was an all-important hub for the Silkroad at all times. These juicy figs represent the agricultural productivity of the irrigated loess soils well.
Marco Polo wrote in his "Travels", 1299: "Kashgar was once a kingdom but now it is subject to the Great Khan (my comment: Kubilai Khan, the grandson of Gengis Khan). It has villages and towns plenty. The biggest city, and the most splendid is Kashgar. The inhabitants live by trade and industry. They have very fine orchards and vineyards and flourishing estates. Cotton grows here in plenty, besides flax and hemp. The soil is fruitful and productive of all the means of life. This country is the starting point from which many merchants set out to market their wares all over the world. The folk here are very close-fisted and live very poorly, neither eating well nor drinking well. The inhabitants worship Mahomet. There are some Nestorian Christians in this country, having their own church and observing their own religion (my comment: Polo was a papal emissary). The inhabitants have a language of their own..."
Some things have'nt changed seven hundred years later!
Oh, by the way, Loess is the term for the very fine sand created by Ice-age glaciers and blown around to form loose deposits. The Taklamakan basin has been a giant salt lake in he past, the lake sediments (=todays Taklamakan desert) were composed of sand brought by the rivers and loess blown in. Loess is in the air in this picture, shielding the sun. And the term Loess is of Swiss german origin.(This is Wikipedia wisdom).
Roland (ahmet54) made a workshop version that I find convincing, even the inscription in Chinese (Ka-shi) and in Arabic (Uighur: Qäshqär). Thanks, Roland! |
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