[Photo by Hu Bin/For China Daily]

They speak Mandarin's Shaanxi dialect and wear traditional attire.

Hu recalls they threw a party for their delegation and invited them to join a traditional wedding.

"The villagers' warm welcome in a language we could understand made us feel like we hadn't left China."

Hu says local kindness helped them overcome hardships.

He recalls Uzbekistan's military helped when the media group ran out of gas in the Kyzyl Kum Desert. The response came after the group used the Internet to ask for help.

Hu believes more people will follow the route since the China National Tourism Administration named 2015 the Year of Silk Road Tourism.

He hopes his book can provide a sneak peek at what the route reveals.