Following flaxen threads

They passed some tough roads before arriving in Chengdu.[Photo provided to China Daily]

She found the Silk Road to be "a stretch of shifting, unmarked paths across massive expanses of deserts and mountains - not a real road at any point or time."

"The main defining features are best seen from the air," she says. "Converging valleys, desert oases and river chasms among towering mountain peaks."

Educational standards in the region remain relatively low, but she believes its natural resources and cheap labor can help revive the halcyon days of the Silk Road.

The team also included Steven Harmans, who is in his early 30s.

"The trip definitely offered some new insights," he says. "I expected a population terrified of speaking to foreigners but found openness and hospitality everywhere we went."

The trip cost 100 to 300 euros ($138-413) a day per person, covering everything from basic food, tents and guesthouse to fancy cuisine and five-star hotels.

The travelers said interacting with local people were the best moments of the trip, but nature and the culture they experienced along the way were also highlights.

"We wanted to come into contact with our peers so we could listen to what they had to say. Language is still a barrier in Central Asia and China, but that's changing fast, and a good guide can make all the difference.

Vyncke came up with the idea when his company, Vyncke Energy Technology, celebrated its 100th anniversary.

"Our business had been forced to set off into the wide world, just as the flax farmers had to transform into industrialists," he says.

"That gave me the idea of the link, of setting off in a jeep from Harelbeke to our factory in Suzhou on China's east coast."