Traditional dancers take the stage at Daming Palace, a remarkable traditional Chinese building in Xi'an. [Photo by Dang Huazi / China Daily]

As its name suggests silk was the most prized good transported from China to the continents of Europe and Africa. The prosperous trade along the Silk Road lasted for more than 2,000 years. What was daily life like and what are the stories of people living in the ancient capital cities Photographers trained their eyes on both the vestiges of the past and the tableaux of the present to capture the beauty they encountered in the two cities.

The project continues in 2015, with photographers invited to discover the beauty in more cities along the Silk Road including those in Gansu and Qinghai provinces and the Ningxia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.