Travel on Ancient Silk Road

Zheng Yongquan sells heat - red chili peppers, grown in a desert oasis in northwestern China.

"Most of our products go to South Korea," Zheng told CBS News Correspondent Terry McCarthy through an interpreter. "Some go to Japan, Singapore."

Zheng's knowledge of the outside world is a bit sketchy. When we asked him about the president of the United States, it was a toss up.

"Clinton, Gorbachev?" Zheng asked.

But he did know the ancient Silk Road passed right through his hometown of Turpan. At the height of the 5,000-mile-long trading route, China prospered by selling silk, paper and furs to the West in exchange for gold, glassware and Buddhism. Now, China again stands at the crossroads of a new trade route. The country's $1.4 trillion export industry has made it the third biggest economy in the world.

Some things have barely changed along the old Silk Road. The markets still resound with a mix of Chinese and Central Asian languages, and silk is still a major commodity in stores.

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