Silk Road caravan trade

For more than a thousand years caravans carried silk, paper, glass, spices and horses along the overland routes between Chang'an and Baghdad, trading from oasis to oasis rather than end to end.

How it is played

A merchant buys goods where they are cheap, pays for camels, guides and protection, and sells where they are scarce, judging weather, bandits and the politics of each khanate on the way.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of China, Uzbekistan, Iran.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Classical Worlds (about 1000 BCE to 500 CE), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of China.