In 1271, I, Marco Polo then 17 years old and my father and uncle sailed from Venice to Acre (now Akko), a port of Palestine.
From there, we rode camels to the Persian port of Hormuz, which is now Iran.
We wanted to sail to China from Hormuz, but the ships available there did not seem seaworthy. We continued by camels across the bleak deserts and on foot over some rugged mountains of Asia. Continuing the mountains, we then descended and crossed the narrowest part of the Desert of Lop, which took a month. We continued eastward, veering off to the north before reaching Xian, the legendary eastern terminus of the Silk Road. We had to cross a portion of the Gobi Desert to reach Shangdu (also spelled Shang-tu). We did not dwell as long on the Gobi Desert as we did on the Lop.
In 1275, more than 3 years after leaving Venice we finally reached Kublai Khan’s summer palace in Shangdu near what is now Kalgan, subsequently his winter palace at his capital, Cambaluc (Beijing). Kublai Khan had set up his court at Beijing, which was not a Mongol encampment but an impressive city built by Kublai as his new capital after the Mongols took over China in 1264 and established Yuan dynasty. The Khan gave us, the Polos a hearty welcome.
Kublai Khan valued the experience and knowledge of his guests. Khan appointed me as an official of the Privy Council in 1277 and for 3 years I was a tax inspector in Yangzhou, a city on the Grand Canal, northeast of Nanking. I knew four languages, and the Khan sent me on many official tours/diplomatic missions of the kingdom. These tours took me to China’s southern and eastern provinces and as far south as Pagan (now Burma), and India, a great part of the journey would doubtless be by a boat. I also visited Karakorum – the capital of the Mongols and part of Siberia. I frequently visited Hangzhou, another city very near Yangzhou. I became the trusted agent of Khan and stayed in his court for 17 years.
As time passed, we, the Polos began to worry about returning home safely. Kublai Khan did not want us to leave China, but we believed that if Kublai Khan were to die before we left China, his enemies might capture us. Finally, in 1292, our chance came. The Khan’s great-nephew, the Mongol ruler of Persia, had sent representatives to China to bring back a bride whom the Khan had selected for him. The representatives asked the Polos to accompany them on their return to Persia. Kublai Khan reluctantly agreed. That same year, we and a fleet of 14 junks sailed from Zaitun (now Quanzhou, also spelled Chuan-chou), a port in Southern China.
The fleet sailed to what is now Singapore. From there, it travelled north of Sumatra and then to Persia, via Sri Lanka and around the southern tip of India. We crossed the Arabian Sea to Hormuz.
There we left the wedding party and traveled overland to the Turkish port of Trebizond (now Trabzon). From Trebizond on the Black Sea coast we went by sea, by way of Constantinople and from there to Venice, arriving home in the winter of 1295. Our journey to China and back probably totaled nearly 24,100 kilometers. We had been gone for 24 years.
camel -- the transport we used in the desert
From there, we rode camels to the Persian port of Hormuz, which is now Iran.
We wanted to sail to China from Hormuz, but the ships available there did not seem seaworthy. We continued by camels across the bleak deserts and on foot over some rugged mountains of Asia. Continuing the mountains, we then descended and crossed the narrowest part of the Desert of Lop, which took a month. We continued eastward, veering off to the north before reaching Xian, the legendary eastern terminus of the Silk Road. We had to cross a portion of the Gobi Desert to reach Shangdu (also spelled Shang-tu). We did not dwell as long on the Gobi Desert as we did on the Lop.
In 1275, more than 3 years after leaving Venice we finally reached Kublai Khan’s summer palace in Shangdu near what is now Kalgan, subsequently his winter palace at his capital, Cambaluc (Beijing). Kublai Khan had set up his court at Beijing, which was not a Mongol encampment but an impressive city built by Kublai as his new capital after the Mongols took over China in 1264 and established Yuan dynasty. The Khan gave us, the Polos a hearty welcome.
Kublai Khan valued the experience and knowledge of his guests. Khan appointed me as an official of the Privy Council in 1277 and for 3 years I was a tax inspector in Yangzhou, a city on the Grand Canal, northeast of Nanking. I knew four languages, and the Khan sent me on many official tours/diplomatic missions of the kingdom. These tours took me to China’s southern and eastern provinces and as far south as Pagan (now Burma), and India, a great part of the journey would doubtless be by a boat. I also visited Karakorum – the capital of the Mongols and part of Siberia. I frequently visited Hangzhou, another city very near Yangzhou. I became the trusted agent of Khan and stayed in his court for 17 years.
As time passed, we, the Polos began to worry about returning home safely. Kublai Khan did not want us to leave China, but we believed that if Kublai Khan were to die before we left China, his enemies might capture us. Finally, in 1292, our chance came. The Khan’s great-nephew, the Mongol ruler of Persia, had sent representatives to China to bring back a bride whom the Khan had selected for him. The representatives asked the Polos to accompany them on their return to Persia. Kublai Khan reluctantly agreed. That same year, we and a fleet of 14 junks sailed from Zaitun (now Quanzhou, also spelled Chuan-chou), a port in Southern China.
The fleet sailed to what is now Singapore. From there, it travelled north of Sumatra and then to Persia, via Sri Lanka and around the southern tip of India. We crossed the Arabian Sea to Hormuz.
There we left the wedding party and traveled overland to the Turkish port of Trebizond (now Trabzon). From Trebizond on the Black Sea coast we went by sea, by way of Constantinople and from there to Venice, arriving home in the winter of 1295. Our journey to China and back probably totaled nearly 24,100 kilometers. We had been gone for 24 years.
camel -- the transport we used in the desert
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