Access to money, education, and products from all over the world fueled urbanization in cities such as Hangzhou, Timbuktu, and Malacca. Despite the fact that metropolitan locations were often less healthful places to live, trade cities drew people in with their bustling economies and job possibilities. Trade routes played a major role in bringing civilization to areas of the world that would have otherwise been inaccessible. Cities such as Hangzhou, Timbuktu, and Malacca that grew up along the trading routes were able to offer amenities and services that would have been difficult for them to provide otherwise. They also provided work opportunities for people who might not have found other ways into the labor force. In addition to bringing economic opportunity, trade routes also brought disease. The crowded conditions in many of these cities allowed pathogens to spread quickly, killing or debilitating large numbers of people. For example, an epidemic of bubonic plague killed an estimated 100,000 people between 1347 and 1351 in China's Yunnan Province, which had one of the largest trade networks in the world at the time. In 1403, a similar number of people could be seen dead in Malacca during a rebellion against Portuguese rule. These losses of life would not have happened if these cities had not existed. There were also many cases where disease was spread by travelers looking for work or fleeing violence. Examples include influenza and cholera.