The Adventures of Zhang Qian in Alexandria Eschate, 128 BC

After years of trekking through the scorching deserts of the Tarim Basin, Zhang Qian —famed diplomat and explorer on a mission to procure horses for Great Emperor Wu's campaigns against the Huns— arrived at Alexandria Eschate, where settled the furthest diaspora of the Macedonian Empire. Seeing the snow-capped peaks of Tien Shan in the distance, he exclaimed: Truly, I must have been the first of anyone in the Heavenly Kingdom to lay my eyes on such a wondrous sight! And then he had for lunch a huge bowl of beef la-mian from Chinatown down the street, because travelling also made him very hungry.

Tien Shan [Photo: Maureen Barlin]