A month-long international Silk Road Expedition by some 100 scientists, archaeologists, historians, ethnologists, geographers, linguists and journalists from 20 countries, under the auspices of UNESCO, to retrace the footsteps of their ancestors along this ancient road. They came from China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
They departed from Xi'an, the starting point of the Silk Road, and crossed the loess plateau and the Gansu Corridor in motor vehicles, on camels or by horse-drawn carts. They trekked more than 3,000 miles in the vast desert area and finally arrived in the ancient city of Kashgar (present-day Kashi) at the foot of the Pamirs. Kashgar is regarded as a commercial center on the old Silk Road.
The expedtion lasted from 20 July to 3 August 1990