The age of exploration. A time when exploring was arguably the most important thing to do in life. European exploration went everywhere. They explored the earth everywhere that they could. So it was of no surprise that China was a choice on the list. An explorer by the name of Marco Polo sailed to China in the 13th century , his adventurous life , and his contribution to the world , will be our topic of discussion .

Marco Polo They called him “the man with a million stories.” People flocked to Marco Polo’s home to hear him tell exciting tales about his travels in distant lands. Marco Polo won fame for his journeys across Asia. He wrote a book about his travels that became one of the most famous travel guides in history. Marco Polo was born in 1254 to a family of merchants. His home was Venice, Italy. Venetian merchants bought and sold valuable Chinese goods, including precious silk cloth. Such goods were brought to Europe along an ancient route known as the Silk Road. The merchants also used the route to travel east on trading missions.
This famous explorer left his home in Venice in 1271 to sail for a journey of a twenty four-year. A journey that took him where no European had been before. He went across the Middle East to Central Asia . Yet, when Marco returned home, he told the amazing stories to very few people.
In the thirteenth century, European traders wanted to enlarge their business to new parts of the world. Among them were Marco, Marco’s father and uncle, who had already successfully made one training exploration journey to Asia. But, by the time they arrived in Cathay (present day China) three and half years later, Marco had learnt enough, including four new languages, to get the confidence and trust of Kublai Khan himself.

When they returned home in 1925, no one believed that people of the empire used paper money and spoke different accents, but they had one system of writing. For Europeans who believed that no civilization could be greater or more advanced than their own, his stories of highly organized, efficiently managed empire that spread from China to Iraq and Russia were too strange to be believable.
Marco Polo died at the age of 71 . Overall, Marco Polo is considered one of history's greatest explorers, The Polos contributed many marvels, items and ideas to European trade, and opened the door to exploration. Thanks to Marco, he became one of history's greatest explorers that helped open relations between Europe and Asia.