Chapter 1.2

Chapter 3

Lian and Ivo spent the following two days touring the village and its surroundings and interviewing almost all the villagers. The distinctive physiognomic differences with ethnic Han Chinese were remarkable. In fact, they were notably taller, their hair and beards were often brown, blond or red, their eyes blue or green. The features in general were Eastern, fruit of a prolonged crossbreeding during a period of two millennia. Lian needed an interpreter to communicate with most of the locals, since they did not speak Mandarin Chinese or any of the dialects that the anthropologist understood, coming mostly from the south of China. The local teacher offered to perform as a translator.

The story repeated with each of the testimonies of the settlers. All were aware of their physical differences with the Chinese outside the village, and attributed it to the arrival, long but they ignored how many years before, of very tall warriors, with red hair and beard, clear eyes and great muscle strength. These foreigners had taken wives among the women of the nomadic tribes that wandered about the place, who willingly accepted both the husky husbands and the sedentary life they had not known before. According to the colorful narratives, each warrior had taken several wives so that the population had rapidly increased and had expanded outside the village. There was no doubt that their own distinctive physical characteristics were a source of pride for the villagers. Ivo photographed and filmed both the landscapes and the testimonies translated by Lian and the teacher, in order to document all findings they were to make on the trip.

The two investigators toured the area's alleged archaeological remains, which were reduced to some walls of earth and stones united by some undetermined mortar that the course of the centuries had solidified.

"These are the only remains that are." Lian explained. "There are no coins, no broken pots or pieces of fabric that can be attributed to an undoubted Roman or European in general origin, so logically there are controversies over the whole Legion issue. Some historians prefer to attribute the obvious Caucasoid features to later Venetian merchants and travelers.”

"What do you think of that alternative theory?" Asked Ivo.

"I do not rule out that your merchant ancestors have come here, since this place is near one of the main routes of the Silk Road. But I do not think their number could have originated such a large progeny. To explain that it would have been necessary the settlement of a large contingent of men , such as a century or even a Roman cohort.”

"Besides, the features do not correspond to those of the Venetians, who were generally of a Latin type.” Answered Ivo. “Here the ethnic influence seems to come from the Gauls and Germans, very numerous in the Roman legions. That could explain the presence of so many villagers with blond or red hair ... twenty centuries later.”

The young man stayed silent for a moment and then asked.

"What can you tell me about the Silk Road? That is also a catching theme, of great historical interest.”

"We can talk more about it later. For me it also has a personal interest since I come from a part of China located squarely on the Route, more to the south and west than the place where we are. Now I want us to go to Yongchang, where we passed by as we came and then to Lanzhou, the capital of the province located about 300 kilometers from here. There we can visit the museum, where there are some interesting elements.”

The visit to the museum was brief and did not yield definitive results for the ongoing research. Several skeletons taller than those of the Han people had been found during the construction of a road years earlier and one of them, that had belonged to a man of more than six feet tall was displayed in a showcase. The exposed metal and ceramic objects were of undoubted Chinese origin, and none of them made could be related to a Roman or European in general origin

Exhausted by travel Lian and Ivo took up rooms in a good-looking hotel as Lanzhou offered amenities for travelers, including some Asian tourists who sporadically arrived. Anyway, Ivo had not seen any other Westerner since his departure from Beijing.

After washing, resting for a couple of hours and changing their clothes the young couple met in the hotel's restaurant offering a varied menu of Chinese and international food. After having the dessert the conversation revolved around the findings they had made in the course of their entire trip, which turned it into a sort of summary of it.

"There is no evidence of historical value that supports the legend of the Roman origin of Liqian," Ivo observed with a hint of skepticism.

"Not from the archaeological point of view.” Admitted the woman. “There are no objects of Roman origin or ruins specifically of that origin.” She stopped and added. “The signs are rather living. The appearance and genes of the population which makes us presume a European origin of 56% of them. In addition, some credit should be given to local traditions. It would be very difficult to believe that a human ensemble would invent for itself such a distant lineage in time and space. There is nothing that connects the Roman Republic with this part of China.”

"There are no remote Indo-European populations in the vicinity?" asked Ivo.

“Very faraway, in Siberia. The whole environment is purely Asian in a very large radius. In addition you have the issue of the origin of the name of the town itself.”

“What do you mean?”

"The defenders of Roman theory derive the name Liqian from the word Legion.”

"They are all circumstantial indications," Said Ivo the man finally. Then he made a gesture that reflected his intention to change the subject.

“Tell me more about you. Not only biographical data, tell me something about your family, your childhood, your studies.”

"I notice you are interested." The girl answered somewhat surprised, with a hint of flattery.

“Very interested. Look, I cannot hide the fact that I like you ... I really like you very much." The man's voice revealed a certain emotion when referring to Lian.

"I notice a touch of Italian gallantry in action."

The youth were sitting on either side of a rather narrow table in the restaurant. The waitress had already removed the profusion of saucers and there were only two cups of aromatic tea between them. Ivo slid the fingers of his left hand between the fingers of the young woman's hand. Once again the close contact and the chemical messengers of the nervous system produced them in pleasant stinging. Lian did not withdraw her hand.