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The Polo brother’s embarked on a new journey, and this time they brought Marco with them. This trip, which would end up taking 24 years since they stayed for very long in China, is the one chronicled by Marco Polo in his book. It has been assumed that the Polos travelled along the Northern Silk Road, although the possibility of a southern route has also been advanced by some scholars.

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One of the most well-known Europeans to travel the silk road in Medieval times was Marco Polo (1245-1324), a merchant, explorer and writer who recorded his travels in the book “Livres des merveilles du monde” (Book of the world’s marvels), published around the year 1300. In English, this book is also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, and it describes – among other things – Polo’s travels along the Silk Road and the various Asian regions and cities that he traverses, including China.

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A citizen of the Republic of Venice, Polo grew up in a family where both his father Niccoló and uncle Maffeo were merchants. Even before Marco was born, the brothers had travelled extensively, setting up trading posts in Constantinople, Sudak, Crimea, and the western part of the Mongolian Empire. They even visited China.

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Eventually, a Mongol ambassador arrived to Bukhara, asking the brothers to go to the Hulagu Khan who was interested in meeting the exotic foreigners. Consequently, the brothers started travelling even further to the east, via Samarkand and then through the dangerous Gobi desert.

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Passing through Turfan, Hami and Dunhuang, they finally got to the Hexi Corridor, and arrived to Beijing in 1266 – where Hulagu Khan’s brother Kublai Khan had his court. (At this point, Hulagu Khan was already dead, he died in February 1265.)

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Kublai Khan, fifth Khagan of the Mongol Empire and the would-be founder of China’s Yuan dynasty, was happy to see the foreigners and greeted them with great hospitality. He wanted to know a lot about Europe, and especially about the Pope and the Roman church. Niccolo and Matteo could communicate with him since they had learn Turkic dialects.

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Marco Polo may have also spent a lot of time with sailors, who may have told him about Cipangu (Japan), and other places wrote about but did not visit. Not every place Marco Polo described outside of China in eastern Asia was relayed to him second hand. While serving as Kublai Khan’s envoy, Marco Polo visited Pagan in Burma. See Myanmar.

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On their journey home The Polos left China from Zaiton (Quangzhou) in 1291, maybe 1292, to escort the Mongol princess with a fleet of 14 ocean-going ships that contained 600 people, plus sailors (Marco Polo's estimate), and was loaded with two years of supplies. The ships were 100 feet long. Each had four masts, oars that required four men to pull and a dozen or so sails, probably made of bamboo slats that rattled in the wind.

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According to the Silk Road Foundation: “The Polos stayed in Khan's court for 17 years, acquiring great wealth in jewels and gold. They were anxious to be on the move since they feared that if Kublai - now in his late seventies - were to die, they might not be able to get their considerable fortune out of the country. The Kublai Khan reluctantly agreed to let them return after they escorted a Mongol princess Kokachin to marry to a Persian prince, Arghun.