WASHINGTON -- The Silk Road that linked Europe to Asia from ancient times has been recreated in one of the most ambitious festivals ever staged in the U.S. capital.

Camels from Kazakhstan and painted buses from Pakistan join the exotic traffic flow on the Washington Mall, a central stretch of parkland bordered by museums, the White House, and the domed Capitol building housing the U.S. Congress.

Replicas of the wonders of the East dot the landscape, including the landmark Nara Gate in Japan, the Xian Tower in China, Samarkand Square in Uzbekistan. At the other end of the mall, just like at the end of the road, is a depiction of Venice's Piazza San Marco. Some 400 musicians, artisans, cooks, gymnasts and story tellers from 20 countries have gathered here for the annual Folklife Festival, this year entitled "the Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust."

World famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma was on hand to set the tone for the six million-dollar festival organized by the Smithsonian, the venerable institution that runs Washington's museums.

"Welcome to the sight, sounds and scents familiar to half of the world," Ma said to open the 10-day festival Wednesday.

Ma, an American of Chinese origin, got the festival off to a multi-cultural start -- after a moment of panic when he briefly lost his cello -- by playing a passage from "Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet," a recent recording of traditional Asian and Western musicians playing together.

From ancient times to the 16th century, the Silk Road through Central Asia assured the only exchange of trade, culture, thought and philosophy between East and West.

Spices, paper, furniture, silk and other goods traveled to market along with the free exchange of ideas and beliefs that saw Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam spread along what has been referred to as the medieval equivalent of today's Internet.

Early travelers from Europe included the Venetian adventurer Marco Polo, whose epic travel writing introduced many Europeans to China for the first time.

The exhibition is expected to attract one million visitors.