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====The travels in China and elsewhere====
[[File: Marco Polo Two.jpg|200px300px|thumb|left| A medieval miniature of Marco in China]]
Based on the book, it is possible to reconstruct the travels of Marco. It has been estimated that he traveled over 15,000 miles on horseback, ship and foot. The books opens with an account of his uncle and father traveling the Silk Road and meeting the great Emperor, Kublai Khan, the Emperor of China in his capital Dadu (present-day Beijing). He was the grandson of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and he ruled Northern China and later conquered south China and beyond, forging one of the greatest Empires in the Medieval World.
The Khan was reluctant to let the Venetians to return home, for reasons unknown. The Europeans knew that they needed the protection of the Khan and that if he suddenly died or was deposed they could be killed. Sometime in 1293, the Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate Empire in Persia contracted a marriage alliance with Kublai Khan.
The Emperor of China agreed and sent one of his daughters or a niece to Persia, to become the wife of the Mongol ruler.<ref>Tulk, p 113</ref> The Polos used this occasion to secure permission to leave the court of the Great Khan, and they traveled to with the bride and her retinue. They took the sea route, and Marco observed many islands and harbors, in modern Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Persian Gulf. The Polos barely survived the perilous journey, and after arriving in Persia, they made their way to the Byzantine Empire and found a passage to Venice.
====Omissions and exaggerations====
