"Ethnology is significant in developing tourism and products," said Elena Gerasimenko, deputy director of St. Petersburg-based Russian Museum of Ethnography. "Museums along the route could give people a new awareness to understand their heritage, and connect them with societies in other countries or regions."

However, she said, plans to combine international efforts to promote cross-border travel along the route are still at the blueprint stage. Compared with nearly 100 million Chinese visitors going overseas every year, the number of people traveling along the Silk Road is too small to calculate, she said.

"Visa issues are still a major problem," said Kang Hao, secretary-general of the China Television Production Committee, who leads teams to coproduce programs in Central Asia. Obtaining visas is not without its difficulties even though travel demand has been growing because of the productions.

But at least plans to make travel easier are being considered.

Enterprises and businesses are lending a hand.

"It is unrealistic to find a specific solution within a short time, but what we want is a lasting mechanism encouraging greater communication," Jin Yongsheng, executive vice-president of ENN Group, a Hebei-based energy provider with businesses in Central Asia. He is also the chairman of the China Silk Road Foundation.

"Trade made up only a small portion of the Silk Road's activities in ancient times," Geng Sheng, a researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is confident social forces will continue to play an important role today.