1254-1324
Merchant Traveler

Travels to the East. Marco Polo, a young Venetian traveling with his merchant father and uncle, is credited as being the first European to have spent a lengthy time in southeastern China. In reality his voyage was not the first one to reach the winter court of the Mongolian khan in present-day Beijing. The variety of land and sea routes that he successfully traveled and the experiences he had in the Middle East and Asia are, however, striking. While on the 7,500- mile route to China starting in 1271 or 1272, Polo had at least two brushes with death from disease and caravan robbers, but after about three and one-half years, uncle, father, and son did reach Khanbalic (Beijing), the khan's winter residence, and Shang-tu, the khan's summer palace. Later Marco went on to Hangchow, his favorite city, on the east coast of China. Nicolo...