Page 57 - Demo

JOURNEYThe Polos%u2014Marco, his father, Niccol%u00f2, and his uncle, Maffeo%u2014had been traveling for three and a half years when they finally achieved their objective%u2014a long-awaited meeting with the powerful Mongol leader Kublai Khan. The historic event took place in 1275 at the Khan%u2019s luxurious summer capital1 in Shangdu, in what is now northern China. Kublai Khan was surprisingly informal as he greeted his tired guests: %u201cWelcome, gentlemen! Please stand up. How%u2019ve you been? How was the trip?%u201dMarco Polo%u2019s trip had, in fact, started more than 9,000 kilometers away in Venice when he was just a teenager. His father and uncle already knew Kublai Khan from a previous visit nine years earlier, when they had spent a short time in Shangdu. On this second trip, the Polos stayed for 17 years before they returned home. They made themselves useful to the Khan, and undertook various missions2 and tasks for him. It is likely that the Khan considered it an honor3 that these Europeans%u2014who were rare in China%u2014had made this extremely difficult journey, and he took the opportunity to make good use of their skills and knowledge.While he was in the service of Kublai Khan, %u201cthe most powerful man in people and in lands and in treasure that ever was in the world,%u201d Marco Polo was able to learn and experience many things that were new to Europeans. In his travel journal, he wrote that Kublai Khan%u2019s palace was the greatest he had ever seen. He admired the Khan%u2019s recently completed new capital%u2014Daidu%u2014whose streets were %u201cso straight and so broad.%u201d The city was located in what is now the center of Beijing, and Kublai Khan%u2019s city planning can still be perceived in the straight, broad streets of China%u2019s modern capital.ABC1The capital of a country is the city where its government meets.2A mission is an important task, especially one that involves traveling.3Something that is an honor is special and desirable.A statue of Marco Polo in Zhenglan Banner, China, close to where Polo is thought to have met Mongol leader Kublai KhanANINCREDIBLEUnit 8A117