Question

What is the silk road? What valuable products were traded on the silk road?

Answer 1

The Silk Road was a network of smaller trading routes that went from the Mediterranean Sea to China. Traders, nomads, merchants, soldiers and regular people used these routes to travel. 
One of the most valuable items that was traded along the Silk Road, was Chinese silk.  Other items were spices, herbs, jewels, jade, glassware, cotton, gold, etc. 

Answer 2

The Silk Road was a series of trade routes set up throughout the Chinese "Han Dynasty" around 200 B.C. linking diverse  civilizations from China all the way towards the Mediterranean; although trade was not the main purpose of it, and it was more like a network of pathways. It was named 'Silk Road' by German geographer Ferdinand Von Richthofen.

The Silk Road transformed the world and history since it merged cultures and founded global commerce; spreading knowledge, technology and being a cultural bridge between East and West; promoting not only commodity exchange but ideas, such as Buddhism and Islam; i.e. Buddhist monks traveled from India to Central Asia and China, so it connected different kingdoms and empires.