Marco Polo

Marco Polo was a merchant and explorer who traveled the Far East and China for much of his life. His stories were what much of Europe knew about ancient China for many years.

Marco was born in Venice, Italy in 1254. Venice was a trading city and Marco's father was a merchant.

What is the Silk Road?

The Silk Road was a group of trade routes between major cities and trading places that went all the way from Eastern Europe to Northern China. It was called the Silk Road because silk cloth was what they most exported.

Not a lot of people traveled the entire route. Trading was mostly between cities or small sections of the route and products would slowly make their way from one side to the other.

Marco Polo's father and uncle wanted to try something different. They wanted to travel all the way to China and bring the goods directly back to Venice. They thought they could make their fortune this way. It took them nine years, but they finally made it home.

But when did he travel to china?

Marco`s first trip to China was when he was just 17 years old. His father and uncle decided to return from chine. During their first trip to china they met the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan (Kublai, leader of all China at that time) and told him they would return. The one that returned was Marco Polo.

It took Marco Polo three years to get to China. In his way he visited many great cities and saw many places including the holy city of Jerusalem, the mountains of the Hindu Kush, Persia, and the Gobi Desert. He met a lot of different types of people and had a lot of adventures. Since the begining of marcopolo’s trip, he was trying to catch every detail because he waned to be a very cultural person. In that period of time culture was a privileg.

Marco lived in China for many years and learned to speak the language. He traveled all around China as a messenger and spy of Kublai Kham. He also traveled to the south, where Myanmar and Vietnam are today. During these visits he learned about different cultures, foods, cities, places and people. He saw many places and things that no one from Europe had ever seen before.