From the Wall to the Water: retracing the Old Silk Road to meet the Uygurs in Kashgar
- Enamoured by the tale of Gan Ying, an ancient Chinese explorer who set out to contact the Roman Empire, William Han decided to follow in his path
- Han’s journey led him from Hong Kong to Italy, via Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Greece. Here is an excerpt from his upcoming book
In the summer of 2015, I left the United States after living there for most of my adult life.
After growing up in Taiwan and New Zealand, I went to America to study, attending Yale University and Columbia Law School. Then I practised law in New York City.
But between the arcane American immigration system and my ineptitude in office politics, I was unable to secure my permanent residency through a Green Card.
As the prospect of my banishment drew nearer, I correspondingly grew fascinated with a story I heard even as a child – in AD97, during the Eastern Han dynasty, China sent an explorer and envoy westward along the Silk Road to locate and to make contact with the Roman Empire.
His name was Gan Ying. He had been a veteran of China’s wars against the Huns under the famous General Ban Chao. And he almost – not quite – succeeded in meeting the Romans. Had the Chinese and Roman Empires developed relations at the height of their respective powers, world history might have turned out very differently.
