Happy New Year 2014 – Year of the Horse

Happy New Year 2014
Petroglyph from Airymach-Too, Fergana Valley, Kyrgyzstan

When the Chinese envoy Zhang Qian brought these “Heavenly Horses” home from the Central Asian Fergana Valley, his Emperor Wu-Di was so impressed that he sent offerings of silk and gold to trade in such horses. The silk, in turn, made its way to Europe, and the Silk Road became for centuries the main connection between East and West.