Was Marco Polo an impostor? He is considered one of the most famous travelers in European history. His travel report became a bestseller. His journey took him from Venice to China, to the court of the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. But did he really undertake the world trip? We are looking for clues. In 1271, the Polo merchant family set off for Asia. The destination of 17-year-old Marco, his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo is the court of the Mongolian Great Khan Kublai in faraway China. Niccolò and Maffeo had only returned from there a few years earlier. On this first trip, they gained the trust of the Great Khan. Three years later, the group arrived in Shandu, the Great Khan's summer residence. According to Marco's report, the Khan took him into his service as an envoy. Marco would now work for his master for 17 years and travel far and wide in his empire. After returning to Italy, Marco writes down his experiences and observations with the help of the writer Rustichello da Pisa. "The Description of the World" becomes a bestseller. But there are doubts from the start. Did Marco even write the book himself? Some of the oddities he describes seem to have sprung from his imagination. Or what is the story behind the ghostly voices in the Lop Nor desert and the Tibetan women who offer themselves to guests? Marco Polo is said to be a braggart, a liar. Critics wonder whether Marco Polo was even in China, because he doesn't mention the Great Wall of China or the tea-drinking ceremony. Literary scholar Marina Münkler is certain: "Marco Polo was not an impostor." //Chapter// 00:00 Was Marco Polo a liar? 00:30 The trip to China 06:48 The ghostwriter 12:10 Fact check //Team// Author: Tillman Graach Editing: Florian Geyer Graphics: Maximilian Rügamer #TerraX #marcopolo #china Click here for the entire TerraX documentary about Marco Polo➡️➡️➡️ https://www.zdf.de/dokumentation/terr... This video is a ZDF production, in collaboration with Bilderfest. Want to subscribe? Just click here – / @terraxhistory All films and information about Terra X can be found here – https://terra-x.zdf.de/#xtor=CS3-82 Terra X on Facebook – / zdfterrax Terra X on Instagram – / terrax OUR SOURCES: Marina Münkler (2015): Marco Polo. Life and Legend. 2nd edition. Munich The Travels of Marco Polo. The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition. Volume 1: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10636... Volume 2: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12410... Igor de Rachewiltz (n.d.): "F. Wood's 'Did Marco Polo Go To China?' A Critical Appraisal" https://openresearch-repository.anu.e... Na Chang, review of Marco Polo Was in China: New Evidence from Currencies, Salts and Revenues, (review no. 1667) DOI: 10.14296/RiH/2014/1667 https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/... Markus Robert Hausmann (2013): The Book of Conjectures. Marco Polo - A Legend and Its Description of the World Put to the Test of Current Research Positions. Diploma thesis, Karl-Franzens-University Graz https://unipub.uni-graz.at/obvugrhs/2...