We shall learn about the network of economic and cultural contacts that developed between China and Cental Asia in the 4th-8th centuries CE and is known as the "Silk Road". We shall discuss the culture of the Sogdians who managed this network. We shall also discuss the complex relations between the sedentary Sogdians and the nomadic Turkic tribes, and focus on the Sogdian colonies in China and the phenomenon of Sino-Sogdian art.