Until recently, Basra was not considered as a producer of some of the finest Chinese-inspired porcelain. However recent studies suggest that Basra was in fact a centre of some of the finest luxury wares of the time. Being the port where, in the 9^th century, imported Tang stoneware and porcelain were first off-loaded from ships, meant that local potters were exposed to new inspiration, which led to experimentation in their own production techniques.

The precise date when exactly Muslims reached the Korean peninsula has been difficult to determine. References to “Ta-shi” (Arab Muslims) can be found in Oriental records that date from the 11^th century AD, but there is also evidence that Muslims were in contact with the Korean peninsula from as early as the 7^th century. In fact by the 8^th century, Muslim navigation manuals reveal that they were plying the eastern seas regularly, establishing colonies along their routes.

Remote and mysterious 7^th–8^th century China provided a natural source of stories that could neither be verified nor disputed. As a consequence, knowledge of China of early Arab/Islamic traders on the Silk Route was based on rather basic, mythical, information. These stories were easily categorized into the three literary genres of the time, The Rihla (travelogues); The ‘Aja’ib (miracles); and Al-Faraj ba'da a-Shidda wa-l-diq, which drew both a cultured readership and an avid oral audience.

The Chinese began to forge links with and travel to many countries in Southeast Asia from early times. This can be seen from archaeological finds across the region and is recorded in the literature of the time. Inscriptions in the form of epigraphic materials also provide insights into the travels of the Chinese during the period, including likely origins and departure and arrival sites.

The economic importance of Melaka in the cross-cultural trade routes of the world and its political supremacy in Southeast Asia has been well documented. Even after its conquest by the Portuguese in 1511, the influence of the exiled Malay Sultanate continued, albeit from a different location – Jahor Lama, where it would seem the influence of the sultanate later floundered. However, in the 1980s, an ancient manuscript  that dates from 1891 was discovered, the Trengganu Tuhfat al-Nafis (The Precious Gift).

Serving as the gateway between East and West, the Gulf of Thailand was a busy trade route for commercial vessels. Since the area was rich in resources, spices and exotic goods, traders also often stopped to purchase and sell merchandise, as well as stock up on food and water supplies. While the gulf was safer than many seas, inevitably some ships sank with their cargoes.

The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul has one of the most valuable collections of Chinese and Japanese porcelain in the world. The palace was built in the 1460s and was the residence for the imperial family until the mid-19^th century. Now a museum, its famous collection of porcelain dates back to the 13^th century and includes over 1,000 pieces of blue and white celadon and over 3,000 pieces of Yuan, Ming and Vietnamese ware, including some of the finest blue and white examples from the Ming Dynasty.

References to trade between the West (Alexandria) and India via the Persian Gulf are curiously absent from literature of the time, e.g. in the Perplus Maris Eryharraei. This makes it difficult for historians to assert with confidence where the prime silk routes ran at this time, who the main traders were, and what their relations with India were. While the Gulf area was well populated and active in maritime trade, trade was often closed due to troubled relations with Rome.

The Three Kingdoms and the Unified Silla were periods when foreign music was most vigorously accepted into Korean popular culture. Although a part of the musical culture was accepted from China, the instrumentation and modal systems of T'ang music in Silla were also closely related to the musical culture of Central Asia, which China had also accepted via the Silk Road. Korea appropriated foreign music but remodeled it rather than overly and unilaterally accepting it.

Kyongju, the capital city of the Silla dynasty, was slow to be influenced by foreign elements arriving from the northwest owing to its situation on the peninsula. This meant that Silla was able to assimilate foreign influences that arrived via the Silk Roads slowly rather than accepting them directly and indiscriminately. After unification on the peninsula, Silla became increasingly exposed to external influences.