Webinar – The history of Silk Road through Legendary Emperors

Let us embark on a journey to retrace the two-thousand-year history of Central Asian Silk Road, from the perspectives of the 3 legendary emperors – Alexandra the Great, Han Wudi and Tang Tai Zong.

A. In 332 B.C., Macedonian Alexander the Great marched eastward, pushing the Helenistic civilization from Mediterranean Sea to Pamir Snow Mountain in Central Asia.

B. In 129 B.C., Han Wudi Emperor’s outward foreign policy saw China expanding to the west, through the deployment of envoys like Zhang Qian who established large scale trade on the Silk Road with Western countries, reaching Ferhana in present-day Uzbekistan to obtain a special ‘Heavenly Horse’.

C. In 645 A.D., the Silk Road was reopened once again during the Tang Dynasty under Tang Taizong, reaching a golden era of prosperity and trade with the west. In 658 A.D, the five Central Asian countries were featured in the Great Tang map for centuries, and a mural with 8 envoys of Europe and Asia was done in Ambassador’s Hall in Samarkand that same year to commemorate the Tang Empire. Till today, Central Asia’s silk, war horses and nomads are still important resources along the Belt and Road, but also the highlight of the five Central Asian countries tour.

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Dr. Mao Ming, Journal Editor of Inner Asian Art & Archaeology Dr. Mao Ming hails from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, with a Ph.D. Art and Archaeology from the University of London. Dr. Mao was the editor of the Journal of Inner Asian Art & Archaeology at the University of London, at the same time, taught the course “Forgotten Silk Road: Five Central Asian States” at the British Museum. She is currently a Research Professor at the Research Center of Cultural Soft Power in Peking University and at the Dunhuang Academy. Dr. has published more than two million words of academic works, including the award-winning “Pomegranate from the West”, the Oxford edition of the “Atlas of the World Art” in the sub-volume, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York exhibition catalogue entitled “Dawn to the Golden Age” silk volume. Five of her Central Asian archaeological translations, including “Turks, Sogdians and Nana Goddess”, have topped the Dangdang academic list in 2018. For the past 17 years, Dr. Mao has been a member of the UNESCO Archaeological Team preserving Buddhist temples and frescoes along Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage Route in the five Central Asian Countries.

There are many places on the map that are described as remote. Or “off the beaten track”. Or an “adventure of a lifetime”. While many times these turn out to be the road more travelled, The Kimberley is truly the whole package. In collaboration with Silversea, Intriq Journey is proud to showcase one of the world’s last wilderness frontiers. Come voyage with us and get up-close and personal with this ancient landscape and the incredible experiences only accessible by ship – zodiac expeditions zip past thundering waterfalls that cascade over towering red cliffs to spot Western Australia’s prolific wildlife of wallabies, crocodiles, and ospreys, getting an insight into ancient Aboriginal rock paintings dating back 50,000 years. This is indeed the ultimate Aussie experience!

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Peter Bergman, Silversea Expedition Leader
Having grown up in the ‘top end’ of Australia, outdoor adventure was a part of Peter’s life from a young age, with fishing, camping, and 4WDing taking up any spare time outside of school hours. This curiosity for the natural world led Peter to study marine science at university in Perth, Western Australia. While semesters were spent cramming in knowledge about the marine environment, university holidays were spent travelling through South East Asia, South America and Europe, opening up a new world of landscapes, cultures and ways of life. Peter began working with Silversea Expeditions in 2018 and has been on some incredible voyages, taking in Antarctica, South and Central America, the Indonesian archipelago, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic as well as in his own backyard in the Kimberley, Australia. Peter works as the Assistant Expedition Leader on the ship, helping with the planning and coordination of each day’s activities, but best of all gets to join in on all the fun in the Zodiacs and out on tour.

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When one thinks of Africa’s animal migration, the Great Wildebeest Migration through Kenya and Tanzania come to mind. But there are plenty of other animals that migrate in Africa too, from air, land and sea. In this Migration in Africa webinar, our expert guest speaker will share with you his tips and recommendations of witnessing animal migrations of zebras, flamingos and many more.

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Seth Vorster, &Beyond safari guide

Growing up on a sugarcane farm in South Africa’s rural Kwazulu-Natal, with magical outdoor spaces to explore, shaped Seth’s early interest in the natural environment. His time-out from school and civil engineering studies was dedicated to exploring game reserves both in and outside of South Africa, hiking South Africa’s spectacular Drakensberg Mountains, and kayaking every off-the-beaten-track river he could get access to. Seth also holds the highly specialized advanced walking/tracking guide qualification, that enables him to provide our guests with the unique experience of tracking dangerous game, including buffalo, black and white rhino, and elephant, on foot.

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Antarctica is a continent unlike any other. The southernmost, coldest, highest and driest continent on Earth. Join our Antarctica webinar to discover the secrets of the polar expedition tour, with our honourable speakers from Quark Expeditions & White Desert.

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Alison Kirk Lauritsen, an Expedition Leader and Quark Academy Trainer in Quark Expeditions
Patrick Woodhead, CEO of White Desert and author of 4 bestselling books published in 11 different languages, a Prince’s Trust Ambassador and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

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