Matteo Ricci (l552～1610)was an Italian, and he was also a Jesuit missionary scholar who lived in China during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.He came to China as a missionary, but also to spread Western science and technology in China. He made extensive friends with Chineseliterati, learned Chinese language and studied Chinese literature, which enabled him to have a certain understanding of Chinese history, geography, culture,society, politics and economy.

Richthofen (1833-1905) was born on May 5,1833, in Karsruhe, Upper Silesia (now Poland). He did seven succeful routes of explortation in China from 1868 to 1872. He proposed in his book in 1877 for the first time that there was an ancient trade road from Luoyang to Samarkand (now part of Uzbekistan), and named it "The Silk Road".

Sven Hedin (1865~1952) was a Swede. He was the world famous explorer . Starting from the age of 16, he spent all his life on exploration. Because of exploration, he never married. His name, in his native country, is not only well-known, but also admired by the people as the same reputation with the Nobel .