The sands of time hold the future

Recent expo at a Silk Road oasis shows this arid destination is not only preserving tradition but also innovating, attracting global visitors, Erik Nilsson and Hu Yumeng report in Dunhuang, Gansu.

Almost no one thinks of the fiddle when they think of the Silk Road. But American folk musician Kyle Dillingham does. In fact, it's this legacy, spanning centuries and continents, that inspired him to travel all the way from Oklahoma in the United States to Dunhuang, Gansu province.

Dillingham journeyed to the modern city that rises from the desert oasis that once served as a critical juncture on the ancient trade network to perform at the recent Eighth Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo, held in late September.

"Without the Silk Road, we might not have the traditional American fiddle music we know today," he explains.

"You wouldn't have traditional fiddle culture in Oklahoma, where I come from. The origins of the bowed string instrument were probably somewhere in Central Asia, and it made its way along that Silk Road into Europe and became a European tradition."

One reason Dillingham has attended the expo six times is that Gansu has a sisterhood relationship with Oklahoma.

"It's really exciting to participate in the future of the modern Silk Road," he says.

This inspired him to write the song Old Friend.

He explains the inspiration for the lyrics, saying: "There are the ups and the downs, the ebb and the flow, and the coming and the going. But ultimately, in the end, we are old friends looking toward a bright future of great friendship and strength."