For five weeks a team of scientists and explorers will take a journey of discovery, following Marco Polo's footsteps along China's Silk Road. Follow along here for daily reports on the Quest. It's early evening on the western edge of the world's most brutal desert, the Taklamakan. We're in China's most westerly city, Kashgar, about to begin AsiaQuest. Desert dust hangs in the air and casts a weird, silky glow over the city of around 250,000 Uighurs, the Turkic people who live here.
Men wearing felt hats ride mule-drawn carts down streets lines with silvery poplar trees.
Women, observing their Muslim faith, wear hood-like veils to cover their faces while children tend bagel stands on the side of the road. Though this is the biggest city in this part of China, far fewer ethnic Chinese live here than in San Francisco. I'm trying to keep from nodding off. Having flown to the other side of the planet, I'm suffering from an extreme case of jet lag. Every thing is 12 hours ahead here.