马可·波罗是13世纪来自意大利的世界著名的旅行家和商人。17岁时，他跟随父亲和叔叔，途经中东，历时四年多到达元朝。他在中国游历了17年，曾访问当时中国的许多古城，到过西南部的云南和东南地区。回到罗马后，他将自己在东方的传奇见闻讲述给民众听，却不幸被当局以“欺诈”的罪名抓捕入狱。尽管身处狱中，他还是口述了大量有关中国的故事，其狱友鲁斯蒂谦写下著名的《马可·波罗游记》，激起了欧洲民众对东方的热烈向往，对后来新航路的开辟产生了巨大影响。 （英语）marco polo was a famous traveler and merchant from italy in the 13th century. at the age of 17, together with his father and uncle, marco arrived in china in yuan dynasty, after four years’ travel via middle east. during his 17 years’ stay in china, he visited many ancient cities as well as yunnan in southwest china and the southeast region. back to rome, he shared his legendary trip with the public which, unfortunately, paid back with years in jail for “fraud”. in the prison, he told rustichello da pisa his stories in china and the latter wrote travels of marco polo. the book aroused yearns in europe towards the oriental world and greatly influenced the opening of the new sea route.