North Road of The Silk Road
1 min readNorth Road
Historians believe that the North Road in the north of the Mt. Tianshan was built just in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which was later than the South Road and the Middle Road and was a result of expanding the management in the Western Regions in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
The route of the North Road starts from the northwest of Dunhuang to Yiwu(now Kumul), and turning west through Pulei(now Barkol), Tingzhou(now Jimsar), Luntai(now near Urumqi), Zhangbaoshouzhuo(now Changji), Shiqi River(now Jinghe River) and Gongyuecheng(now Huocheng) to cross the lli River to go west towards Suiye(now Torquemarque). The existing well-known historical sites along the North Road include Beiting Relics of the Tang Dynasty in Jimsar, Gaochang Uyghur Temple Relics, Ulanbay Old City in Urumqi, Almaligh Old City in Huocheng and so on.
The west section of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway and most parts of trunk roads across North Xinjiang are in parallel with the North Road of the Silk Road, and some road sections are nearly overlapped in the same line.Therefore, people can also enjoy the Silk Road style along the North Road by taking a train or bus eastward and westward in South Xinjiang today.
