Thirteen centuries ago, a caravan of Samarkand merchants walked into Chang'an with silver, glass and dancers who spun so fast the Tang court named a whole dance after them. Today their descendants' cities are waiting for you — the turquoise domes of Samarkand and the honey-coloured lanes of Bukhara, the homeland of the Sogdians, the traders China never forgot.
For travellers from China, Uzbekistan is not a foreign country so much as the far end of a very old family story. And in 2026 that story is being retold at record speed: official data for the first eight months of the year show arrivals from China up 2.3-fold, helped by the 30-day visa-free regime for Chinese citizens in force since 1 June 2025.
Between roughly the 4th and 8th centuries, the Sogdians — an Iranian-speaking people from the valleys of the Zarafshan and Kashkadarya — were the great middlemen of the Silk Road. Their merchant networks stretched from the Mediterranean to Luoyang, and their language became a trading lingua franca across Central Asia.
Chinese chronicles gave their city-states family names that are still recognisable today: 康 (Kang) for Samarkand, 安 (An) for Bukhara, 石 (Shi) for Chach — today's Tashkent. Together they were remembered as the 昭武九姓, the "nine Zhaowu surnames". When a Chinese traveller reads those characters on a museum label in Samarkand, a thousand-year-old connection clicks into place.
In Xi'an, archaeologists have excavated the richly carved tomb of An Jia, a Sogdian community leader of the 6th century — his very surname points back to Bukhara. The Tang capital's famous "whirling dance" (胡旋舞), celebrated by poets like Bai Juyi, was brought east by dancers from the Sogdian states.
In Uzbekistan you can walk the other end of that road:
Practical barriers have almost disappeared. Chinese passport holders can visit Uzbekistan visa-free for up to 30 days (up to 90 days in any 180-day period), and direct air links between the two countries have multiplied. Autumn is the ideal window: warm, dry days, cool evenings and harvest-season bazaars heaped with grapes, pomegranates and melons — perfect for a Golden Week journey or a quieter late-October escape.
A classic 7–8 day "Sogdian road" itinerary flows naturally: Tashkent → Samarkand by Afrosiyob high-speed train, a day trip to Shahrisabz, then on to Bukhara, with an optional extension to walled Khiva. Chinese-speaking guides, family-friendly pacing and photography-focused timing at sunrise and golden hour can all be arranged.
GoUzbekistan is the travel brand of Lochin Express Plyus LLC, a Bukhara-based company operating since 2007 and holding tour-operator licence No. 662280 from Uzbekistan's Committee for Tourism Development. We run our own ground operations in Bukhara — hotel, event venue and catering — so every Silk Road day is handled by people who live here.
Ready to follow the Sogdian merchants home? Create your own custom tour or explore our tours — and let Samarkand and Bukhara finish a story that began in Chang'an.
اكتشف السياحة في أوزبكستان على خطى تجار طريق الحرير الصغديين، من قباب سمرقند الفيروزية إلى أزقة بخارى العريقة. صمّم رحلتك الخاصة الآن.
Folgen Sie den sogdischen Kaufleuten: Eine Seidenstraße Rundreise führt von Taschkent über Samarkand bis nach Buchara. Entdecken Sie unsere Usbekistan-Reisen.
Recorre la tierra de los mercaderes sogdianos: Samarcanda, Bujará y Taskent en un viaje inolvidable por la Ruta de la Seda. Diseña tu viaje a medida.
Sur les traces des marchands sogdiens, votre voyage en Ouzbékistan relie Samarcande, Boukhara et Tachkent au cœur de la Route de la Soie. Découvrez nos circuits.
追寻丝绸之路上的粟特商人，从"康国"撒马尔罕到"安国"布哈拉。中国公民可免签停留30天，金秋正是出行好时节。立即定制您的专属行程。
Пройдите путём согдийских купцов: Самарканд, Бухара и Ташкент — сердце Великого Шёлкового пути. Выберите тур в Узбекистан.
Kang for Samarkand, An for Bukhara: Tang China named the Sogdian merchant cities of the Silk Road. With visa-free entry and arrivals from China up 2.3-fold in 2026, it's time to follow them home....
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Read moreAt ten at night Bukhara empties, and the old town becomes what it was a thousand years ago. Stay inside the walls this autumn — and see the Silk Road with nobody else in it....
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