Dan Snow heads to China to one of the oldest and most historic cities in the country - Xi’an. It’s a city that is now home to 10 million people, a modern metropolis, but it’s a city that wears its heritage proudly. This was the capital city of China’s most dynamic and important dynasties, the Tang and under their rule, Xi’an enjoyed its golden age.

It became a city of art, culture and religion and travelling through the city, Dan comes face to face with the relics from that glorious period - the mighty city walls and the incredible Buddhist pavilions built 1500 years ago.

But Dan isn’t just here to tell a story of a great Chinese city, but instead an international one, because Xi’an wasn’t just the most important city in China - but it acted as the terminus of that great artery of trade that wove a route through China, the Central Asian Steppe and all the way to Rome. The Silk Road.

Heading into the Shaanxi History Museum, in the heart of modern Xi’an, Dan comes face to face with some objects that reveal the extent of the Silk Road story. Gilded silk worms, camel statues and cups made by central Asian artisans but from Chinese materials show that that Silk Road was far more important than a simple trade network - but a network that saw people, ideas and cultures being transported too.

And this is a route that still has a strong legacy today and a lasting cultural importance. History Hit was given fantastic behind the scenes access to the British Museum Silk Roads exhibition. It showcases an incredible selection of objects that made their way all along the silk roads. From Japan in the East, all the way to Britain in the West. Showing that the Silk Road was far more that a simple route from Xi’an to Rome - but instead was a complex web of routes that linked the known world together.

This is an incredible journey into the heart of China and one of the most amazing international stories in history.

For more details of the British Museum exhibition, visit https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/silk-roads

Do also take a look at our other History Hit films relating to the Silk Road: "Dunhuang, A Silk Road Oasis", and our "Galloway Hoard" film that explores a spectacular silver jar that was traded from Persia to Scotland.