In 1292, Kublai Khan agreed to let Marco Polo, his father and uncle return home, after they convoyed a Mongolian princess Kokachin to marry a Persian king. Marco Polo, the great Venetian explorer/merchant is said to have brought back with him from his fabled visits to China, noodles, which became the pasta that Italy is famed for today. Since the Mongols (Yuan) adopted the pomp of the Chinese court, it is highly probable that Marco Polo, during his 18 years presence at Khubilai's court (1274 to 1292), saw quite a lot of it. Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. Marco Polo, in fact, did not bring tea back with him from his expedition. While some speculate that Marco Polo brought back material things, such as pasta from China, these stories may prove more legend than fact. Before Marco Polo left for his China expedition in 1292, Italy had discovered the culinary delights of pasta centuries earlier. Marco Polo’s book inspired Christopher Columbus and other explorers to … In 1295, they finally reached Venice by sea via the Black Sea and Constantinople. Marco polo's dad used to be an explorer and a trader, Marco traveled to China with his dad to learn about the chinese ways. Marco Polo Timeline Timeline Description: Marco Polo was an explorer who traveled from Europe to China and back. His account of those travels, known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo, is a classic. Not every place Marco Polo described outside of China in eastern Asia was relayed to him second hand. Marco Polo, Venetian merchant and adventurer who traveled from Europe to Asia in 1271–95, remaining in China for 17 of those years. Tea was only brought back to Europe much later. Marco Polo was among one of the firsts to travel across the Silk Road, and tea was acquired via the Silk Road, so putting the two together, many would conclude this. According to Culinary Lore, Polo mentions encountering noodles in China, but the text suggests that he was comparing the noodles he saw abroad with those he was already familiar with in Europe. For example, Marco Polo brought back the idea of paper money and some think his descriptions of coal, eyeglasses and a complex postal system eventually led to their widespread use in Europe. ­Incredibly, the emergence of Italian pasta occurred in total isolation from China. The Arab geographer Idrisi described the pasta he encountered in Sicily in 1154 as made from flour and formed into long strings [source: Needham and Wang]. See Myanmar. They took with them 17-year-old Marco Polo and two friars. It is hard to prove a negative, but chances are that Marco Polo bringing back gunpowder or any derivative (e.g. While serving as Kublai Khan’s envoy, Marco Polo visited Pagan in Burma. The most significant and enduring things Marco Polo brought back from China were information and inspiration. 2: Marco Polo did not bring pasta back to Venice from China. The two friars hastily turned back after reaching a war zone, but the Polos carried on. He also believed to bring home the paste recipe. Marco Polo may have also spent a lot of time with sailors, who may have told him about Cipangu (Japan), and other places wrote about but did not visit. So, what did Marco Polo bring back from China? They passed through Armenia, Persia, and Afghanistan, over the Pamirs, and all along the Silk Road to China. His father, Niccolò, and … Marco Polo: The Early Years . No. This timeline covers his life and travels. The wealth of new geographic information recorded by Polo was widely used by European navigators. He brought back information that had been unknown before his time, and he inspired others to explore as well.