Marco Polo was born in Venice, Italy, in 1254. At 17 he followed his father and uncle east along the Silk Road. After three and a half years of travel, he reached the Yuan capital Dadu (today's Beijing) in 1275 and met the great khan Kublai.
Marco lived in China for 17 years. He learned Chinese and Mongolian, served Kublai, and travelled widely — admiring Hangzhou's canals and silk markets, Yangzhou's bustle, and possibly Yunnan and Burma. Paper money, coal and silk amazed him, things still rare in Europe.
Back in Venice he was captured in war. In prison he told his cellmate about China; the cellmate wrote it down as The Travels of Marco Polo. Europeans who read that "China was full of gold" and its cities grander than theirs were sceptical — yet the book made Europe long for the East and even inspired Columbus.
Historians still debate whether Marco really reached China. What is certain: he was the man who first told Europe about the real, wealthy China. Along the Silk Road today, people still remember the Venetian who carried China's story to the world.
First, a common misconception: Marco Polo (1254-1324) was not the first European to reach China - missionaries and merchants had come before him. But his Book of the Marvels of the World first systematically and vividly introduced China to Europe, shaping Europe image of the East for centuries.
His journey: in 1271, at 17, Marco Polo left Venice with his father and uncle along the Silk Road through Central Asia and Persia, reaching the Yuan capital Shangdu (today Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia) and Dadu (Beijing) in 1275 after about three and a half years. He was received by Kublai Khan, lived in China about 17 years, held posts in the Yuan court and was sent on missions to Yunnan and the Jiangnan region.
What his book described: the splendour of Dadu, the wealth of Hangzhou ("the finest and noblest city in the world"), Suzhou silk, Quanzhou port, paper money and burning coal - all sounding like fantasy to European readers, and many did not believe him.
The "did he really go" debate: his book never mentions the Great Wall, tea, chopsticks or foot-binding, so some scholars suspect he only reached Central Asia or wrote from others accounts. Others insist he was there and merely omitted details. The debate itself is the charm of history.
Influence: his book inspired Columbus, who sailed with it, scribbling notes in the margins, seeking the golden land described; it expanded European geographic knowledge of Asia and indirectly fed the Age of Discovery.
Retracing Marco Polo today: follow the Silk Road from Venice through Turkey, Iran and Central Asia to Kashgar, Dunhuang and Beijing, by car or in stages. Or visit the Yuan Dadu City Wall Park in Beijing and the Southern Song Royal Street in Hangzhou, imagining the China Marco Polo saw 700 years ago.
