Links

If you are interested in learning more about the Silk Road and other aspects of Central Asian culture, try these links:

British Library Resources

The British Library is a uniquely appropriate setting for this ground-breaking exhibition. Our Asia, Pacific and Africa collections constitute probably the most comprehensive accumulation of Asian and African material in the world. Some of the most important items in the Chinese language collections are found in the Stein collection.

The Diamond Sutra is the most important printed item in the Chinese collections. Dated 868, it is the earliest surviving complete and dated ‘book' in the world.

The British Library Sound Archive holds a vast collection of recordings: variously described as traditional, folk or 'world' music. It encompasses most musical traditions with published and unpublished recorded performances dating from the infancy of sound recording to the present day.

The International Dunhuang Project is a worldwide collaboration to make high-quality colour images of more than 100,000 manuscripts, paintings, artefacts and photographs from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites freely available to scholars and the interested layman alike. The site includes educational pages aimed at the general public. Among them are pages on the Silk Road, Buddhism, bookbinding, medicine and more.

IDP also has a page of links to other sites.

The National Preservation Office provides an independent focus for the preservation of and continuing accessibility to cultural heritage materials held in libraries, archives and museums in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It hosts the United Kingdom and Ireland Blue Shield Committee, which supports the international initiative to protect the world‘s cultural heritage.

Other web resources

The British Museum lent a substantial amount of material for the 2004 Silk Road exhibition including silk paintings, textiles, sculpture and other material found along the Silk Route. The Museum’s Asia Department
has created a digitised database of over 300 paintings from Cave 17 in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, Dunhuang. These are also available on the Mellon International Dunhuang Archive (MIDA) and on the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library

Royal Society for Asian Affairs promotes greater knowledge and understanding of Asia, from the Middle East to Japan.

Buddhist Society is one of the oldest Buddhist societies in Europe. It aims to publish and make known the principles of Buddhism and to encourage the study and practice of those principles.

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland is Britain's senior learned society in the field.

Asia House promotes appreciation and understanding of Asian countries, their arts, religions and economies, and fosters closer communication between the peoples of Asia and Europe.

The Brunei Gallery of the School of Oriental and African Studies is dedicated to showing historical and contemporary work of and from Asia and Africa.

Royal Geographic Society is the Learned Society representing geography and geographers.

Great Britain-China Centre is a centre of excellence promoting understanding between the UK and China. The site includes extensive links to related organisations.

BBC Proms Each year the Proms festival of music explores different themes, as a way of bringing together music which spans many centuries and different styles. In 2004 the three main themes included an 'East meets West' exploration.

In association with the BBC Proms Education department the British Library presented a new chamber ensemble version of Mahler’s songsymphony Das Lied von der Erde.

Arranged by Glen Cortese and Daniel Ng, the original Chinese texts by poets Li Bai, Qian Qi, Meng Haoran and Wang Wei are set to Mahler’s music.

Promotional partners

China Travel Service & Information Centre Ltd specialises in China programmes and deals directly with China tour operators and specialists to provide best-price trips.

Air China is the largest commercial airline in China. The phoenix logo is a symbol of good fortune.

East is a retail chain that mixes retro, ethnic and east/west/fusion.

Pizza Express on Euston Road developed a celebratory Silk Road pizza for the duration of exhibition.

Novotel London Euston offered rooms at special rates to visitors to the Silk Road exhibition.

GNER the Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) provides high speed inter-city train services along Britain’s East Coast main line, linking England and Scotland along a route of almost 1,000 miles.

Shish restaurants take inspiration for their cuisine from the varied and exotic locations along the Silk Road. Shish uses only the finest ingredients, cooked fresh to authentic recipes and modern reinventions.

Beijing Hotel – supporters of the Silk Road competition.