The route followed by the Silk Road contributed to the formation of humankind's present day knowledge concerning ceramics. Porcelains, which are hardened ceramics, began to be manufactured in 7th century China. Thanks to the Silk Road, the Western World gained knowledge of porcelain, even if this happened as late as the 17th century. The most precious merchandise being carried along the Silk Road, after silk itself, was porcelain, which was also called "White Gold".

In the years when Kubilay Khan ruled China, many porcelain objects were carried west and thus did Europe get to know this product. The most important of these ceramics were the 13th century Greek celadons and aquamarine porcelains. The best examples of the celadons of that period, can be found at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.

Anatolia, through which the Silk Road passes, has a ceramic culture that is as old as the history of human civilisation. In Anatolia you can find many examples of Iznik and Kütahya tiles and Çanakkale ceramics, which are its contribution to world civilisation.

The Kale Group, faithful to its principle that companies can survive and live on, not just by producing and contributing to the economy, but also by contributing to world culture and humanity, decided to be the main sponsor and organizer of the "From Chine to Çan, Along the Silk Road on a Camel Caravan", with the aim of repeating in our days this great cultural adventure, which lasted 2 years, in similar conditions on a camel caravan and thus strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the countries located on the Silk Road and underlining the historic and cultural synthesis between East and West, which formed in Anatolia, thanks to the Silk Road.

This expedition started in China on the 4th June 1996 and ended in Turkey in 1997, in time for the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Kale Group Companies.

This expedition, the main sponsors and organizers of which were Çanakkale Seramik and Kalebodur, was done under the patronage of Süleyman Demirel, 9th president of the Turkish Republic.

The Silk Road team, composed of photographer Arif Asçi, Necat Nazaroglu, Murat Özbey and film director Paxton Winter, completed the 12 thousand km. Silk Road, extending from China to Turkey, on camel back, never once using a motor vehicle.

The team went along the northern branch of the Silk Road, along which the most common language is Turkish, and its many local dialects and crossed China, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey.

The team had to struggle against all sorts of unfavourable climatic and natural conditions, just like the caravans of olden days. During the expedition, the team shot more than 200 hours of film and took more than a 100 thousand pictures.

The story of the trip plus a selection of the more than 100 thousand pictures were used to put together a book. This 500 page book was published in 1988 by Kaleseramik Cultural Publications with the title The Last Caravan on the Silk Road, in Turkish and in English.

The scenes shot during the "From Chine to Çan, Along the Silk Road on a Camel Caravan" expedition, were used to make a documentary titled "Silkroad Ala Turca", consisting of 8 parts of 30 minutes each.