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After listening to his tales, Emperor Wu praised Zhang highly for his quick wit, courage and fortitude. A new understanding of the many countries in the Western Regions made the emperor attach even greater importance to strengthening ties with them. In 115BC, the emperor decided to send Zhang on a second journey to the Western Regions -- this time to the country of Wusun. Zhang had under his command 300 brave men and they took with them gold, money, silk, goods, cotton cloth, and over 10,000 heads of cattle and sheep.

Zhang and several other emissaries arrived in Wusun first. Later, the others went separately to establish contact with such countries as Dayuan, Kangju, Dayuezhi, Yutian and Daxia. This time Zhang and his colleagues visited total of 36 countries, and were cordially received everywhere since those western countries al desired to establish ties with the powerful Han Dynasty. From then on, many envoys had been dispatched from those countries to Chang'an bringing with them many precious gifts. As a result, it was during the Han Dynasty that many hitherto unknown things were successively introduced into China, such as grapes, green onion, walnut, carrot, alfalfa, fine race horses from Dayuan, and music and dances from various countries in that region. Buddhism and Indian philosophy and art also came to China by way of the Western Regions. In turn, the Western Regions came to know such Han handicrafts as silk, lacquer ware, jade carvings and copper utensils along with the techniques of raising silkworm, sinking wells, and smelting iron. This kind of exchange greatly enriched the material and cultural life of the various nationalities involved. In order to promote commerce and friendly relations with the countries in the Western Regions and Central Asia, the Han court set up many check-points along this trade route, which was protected by Han garrisons. Envoys and merchants traveling on the Silk Road were provided with all kinds of conveniences.

Following the opening of this route to the Western Regions, traffic between China and other countries in Silk Road witnessed a big increase. Hence the name "Silk Road" was used. But the route also served as link for friendly contacts between China and other countries in the promotion of economic and cultural exchange.