Kazakhstan

Travel to Astana, the frigid northern capital of Kazakhstan, and one of the newest and most sophisticated cities on the planet.

Almaty does its own thing, and this is what makes the place very much itself.

If architecture is a mirror for a city’s soul, then what can we make of Astana?

At a time where nobody really seems to know what this New Silk Road thing is, the CEO of Khorgos Gateway hits at its core.

A new expressway is being built that will connect the Yellow Sea coast of China with Western Europe. It’s called the Western Europe – Western China Road, but is better known as the New Silk Highway.

With the Khorgos ICBC become an epicenter of global commerce along the New Silk Road or remain a Chinese wholesale market flung out on the Eurasian steppes?

A challenging set of border crossings in what is one of Asia’s up and coming land ports.

I just completed my second round of research travels for my upcoming book on the New Silk Road.

I move on to my next world language: Russian. Here’s why.