Millions of steps on the road to understanding

Revitalized trade routes set to forge greater connectivity as global commerce establishes a new course, Zhou Wa reports.

Kai Markus Xiong enjoyed a refreshing bottle of cool beer after an exhausting run, but it was not a parched throat that felt the blessed relief. Instead his aching ankles luxuriated in the iciness of the bottle that he placed against them.

The 44-year-old German had just completed another stage in the grueling challenge that he has set himself, a 12,000-kilometer run along the historic Silk Road, and he was now in Kazakhstan.