From the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Silk Road went for thousands of kilometres to China in the east. Travellers went from one great city to another, crossing wide deserts and high mountains. Their horses and camels carried gold, silver, glass, spices, and of course, silk.
At the age of seventeen, Marco Polo left Venice to travel along the Silk Road to China with his father and uncle. He was just a young man learning the family business. Perhaps he was excited about the journey, and the wonderful things that he would see. He did not know that he would not return for more than twenty years – and that one day, he would be the greatest traveller of his time.
東起中國(guó)，西至地中海，絲綢之路綿延千里。路上的旅人們穿過(guò)一片片廣袤的沙漠，翻越一座座巍峨的山峰，從一個(gè)大城市去往另一個(gè)大城市。他們的馬和駱駝?shì)d著黃金、白銀、玻璃、香料，當(dāng)然還有絲綢。
馬可·波羅17歲時(shí)，跟隨父親和叔父離開(kāi)威尼斯，沿絲綢之路去往中國(guó)。當(dāng)時(shí)他還只是一個(gè)學(xué)做家族生意的小伙子。他也許期待著旅行和即將看到的美好事物，卻并不知道自己會(huì)離別家鄉(xiāng)20余載，也不知道有一天自己會(huì)成為那個(gè)時(shí)代最偉大的旅行家。