Xi'an, the capital city of what is now northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has played a pivotal role in facilitating China's exchanges with the rest of the world through the ancient Silk Road.

The city, which was called Chang'an in ancient China, served as the starting point of the Silk Road. Chang'an was the capital city of several ancient Chinese dynasties, including the Western Han and the Tang, from 202 BC to AD 907.
Stepping out of the Xi'an Railway Station, one will encounter the colossal ruins of the Danfeng Gate of the Daming Palace. This gate was the national gateway of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Over 1,300 years ago, envoys from all nations from every corner of the world would pass through this very gate to pay homage to what was then the world's most powerful empire.
In Istanbul, the Topkapi Palace Museum, built in 1478, was the heart of the Ottoman Empire.
As camel bells echoed across deserts from Chang'an and merchant ships sailed oceans from east China's Quanzhou City, treasures of civilization from ancient China ultimately settled within this museum.
Its collections include vast numbers of Chinese paintings, calligraphy, and precious gold and silver artifacts, among them 12,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain.
At the Topkapi Palace Museum, these porcelain wares now stand on display for the world, telling a history of civilizational exchange spanning Eurasia.