Silk Road journeys in Jiangsu

The gate of the Hometown of King Xiang Yu Resort in Suqian, Jiangsu province. Born into a noble family of Xiaxiang, today's Suqian, Wutong Lane was where Xiang Yu (232–202 BC), the Hegemon-King of Western Chu who grew up to lead the rebel forces of farmers against tyranny of Qin emperor. His army won the Battle of Julu against Qin armies in 207 BC. After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang proclaimed himself "Overlord of Western Chu" and ruled a vast area of land covering parts of today's Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangsu, with Pengcheng (today's Xuzhou) as its capital. He waged a power struggle, known as the Chu–Han Contention, with Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, for five years, which ended in his defeat at the Battle of Gaixia in 202 BC. His story with life-long wife Yu has been adapted into folk songs and operas across China and movies. [Photo/suqiantour.gov.cn]

The Xiaodian Hot Springs in Suqian offers many kinds of rejuvenating treatments in bathing pools, including milk pools, fish pools, and sand beach bathing rooms. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The ancient Silk Road was the trade and cultural crossroads that connected China, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome in history. The Silk Road has derived its name from the Chinese silk trade that first began and flourished during the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220). As a main silk production area, Jiangsu province has been closely connected with the ancient Silk Road throughout history. Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, was the departure point for Chinese navigator Zheng He's seven epic voyages across the Indian Ocean. Suzhou is known as the "capital of silk" due to its high-quality silk. Yangzi Jin in Yangzhou, an intersection point of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, used to be the convergence point of the land and maritime routes of the Silk Road in Tang Dynasty.