Where in the World is Marco Polo?

In China, of course. Well, at least he used to be there. Long ago before Christopher Columbus was even born, China was almost legendary to the people of what we now call Europe. It was so far away from where they lived, that it took almost five years to get there and back. But China had wonderful goods to trade such as gold, cloves and ginger, rare plants, beautiful rugs and silk cloth that only the Chinese knew how to make.  There once was a  man named Niccolo who traveled to China. While he was gone, his wife had a baby. The baby's name was Marco Polo.  Marco's father did not return until his son was fifteen. Niccolo had been made a messenger for the king. Now he wanted Marco to come back with him to China. Soon they set out. It took them around four years to reach China. When they finally arrived there, Marco wrote a book about his travels and for many years that was the only way for most people in Europe to find out what China was like. It would be kind of like Neil Armstrong writing a book about the moon and we would have to take his word on it.