How did commercial exchange on the Silk Road foster other changes?

In human
history, commercial exchange tends to promote other changes because the people who engage in the
commercial exchange also engage (whether purposefully or not) in other sorts of
exchanges.

Perhaps the most important change that was fostered by commercial
exchange on the Silk Road was religious.  It was along the Silk Road that Buddhism made its way
from India to China.  Buddhism became a very important religion in China.  Chinese monks ended
up moving back and forth on the Silk Road to India to study and collect texts.

In this and other ways, the trade that was conducted along the Silk Road caused
cultural change to occur.