1. Italy, Venice, China, Persia on a map
2. Who was Kublai Khan?
Kublai Khan (1215-1294) was a Mongolian general and statesman, the grandson and greatest successor of Genghis Khan. As fifth emperor (reign 1260–94) of the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty (1206–1368), he completed the conquest of China (1279) begun by Genghis Khan (1211). He thus became the first Yuan ruler of the whole of China. He was, at the same time, the overlord of all the other Mongol dominions, which included areas as diverse as that of the Golden Horde in southern Russia, the Il-Khanate of Persia (today Iran) and the steppe heartlands where Mongol princes were still living the traditional nomadic life. To govern China, with its long and individual political and cultural history, demanded statecraft of a special order. When he met Marco Kublai was impressed by his intelligence and humility. He appointed him to serve as his foreign emissary. Marco was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout the empire and Southeast Asia, such as to present-day Burma, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. As part of his appointment, Marco also travelled extensively inside China, living in the emperor's lands for 17 years and seeing many things previously unknown to Europeans.
3. Imagine you are Marco Polo. Tell your friends about your travels.
I have been away for a long time and I have travelled a great distance. You will not believe some of the amazing things I have seen. Far away there is a civilisation that is very different to our own and where unusual things are seen. For example, you know how heavy money can be if you have a lot of it. There they have a system of paper money and so you can carry hundreds of pounds in your pocket and hrdly know its there. And yu know how hard fire making can be. Well they use this black stuff, coal, and it will keep a fire going for ages. Some of their jewellery is amazing too and wonderfully delicate porcelain cups and smooth silk clothing made from stuff that worms produce. I'm going to write my story in a book.
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