[{"n": "William of Rubruck", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/william-of-rubruck/", "s": "Franciscan friar who traveled to the Mongol Empire and wrote a key travel account."}, {"n": "Xu Fu", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/xu-fu/", "s": "Chinese alchemist sent to find immortality, who settled in a distant land."}, {"n": "Xuanzang", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/xuanzang/", "s": "7th-century Chinese monk who journeyed to India and translated Buddhist scriptures."}, {"n": "Zhang Qian", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/zhang-qian/", "s": "Han envoy who opened the Silk Road to Central Asia."}, {"n": "Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/lvar-n-ez-cabeza-de-vaca/", "s": "Spanish explorer, survivor, and proto-anthropologist of the New World."}, {"n": "Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/adolf-erik-nordenski-ld/", "s": "Finland-Swedish explorer who first navigated the Northeast Passage."}, {"n": "Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/lvaro-de-menda-a-de-neira/", "s": "Spanish explorer who led two early Pacific voyages."}, {"n": "Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/alexander-mackenzie-explorer/", "s": "Scottish explorer who first crossed North America north of Mexico."}, {"n": "Alonso de Ojeda", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/alonso-de-ojeda/", "s": "Spanish explorer who named Venezuela and was the first European to visit Guyana, Curaçao, Colombia (La Guajira"}, {"n": "Andrés de Urdaneta", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/andr-s-de-urdaneta/", "s": "Augustinian friar who charted the Manila galleon route."}, {"n": "Antonio Pigafetta", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/antonio-pigafetta/", "s": "Chronicler of the first circumnavigation of the globe."}, {"n": "Apsley Cherry-Garrard", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/apsley-cherry-garrard/", "s": "English Antarctic explorer and author of The Worst Journey in the World."}, {"n": "Bartholomew Gosnold", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/bartholomew-gosnold/", "s": "English explorer, privateer, and colonist who helped found Jamestown."}, {"n": "Bartolomeu Dias", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/bartolomeu-dias/", "s": "Portuguese explorer who first rounded Africa's southern tip."}, {"n": "Benjamin Bonneville", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/benjamin-bonneville/", "s": "American officer and explorer of the Oregon Country and Great Basin."}, {"n": "Bjarni Herjólfsson", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/bjarni-herj-lfsson/", "s": "First European known to sight the American mainland."}, {"n": "Adam Johann von Krusenstern", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/adam-johann-von-krusenstern/", "s": "Russian admiral who led the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe."}, {"n": "Benjamin of Tudela", "u": "/e/explorers-of-the-silk-road-and-beyond/benjamin-of-tudela/", "s": "Twelfth-century Jewish traveler who chronicled Jewish communities across three continents."}]