Marco Polo's Travels

Author: (Italian) Marco Polo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: In the history of Sino-Western cultural exchange, the Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254–1324), who arrived in China over 700 years ago, is undoubtedly a pioneer. His book "The Travels of Marco Polo" is widely known and called one of the world's greatest "wonders." Today, the study of Marco Polo and his "The Travels of Marco Polo" has become an international and comprehensive discipline—Marco Polo Studies. The main content of "The Travels of Marco Polo" is a record of Marco Polo's travels in China, as well as the situations in some countries and regions in Western Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia. The book, written in a documentary style, narrates his observations in various parts of China, including Western regions and the South China Sea, and records the politics, wars, court secrets, festivals, hunting and fishing during the early Yuan Dynasty. It particularly provides detailed accounts of the economy, culture, customs, and prosperity of major cities and commercial ports such as Dadu (modern-day Beijing), Xi'an, Kaifeng, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou during the Yuan Dynasty.