Marco Polo started his voyage from his hometown of Venice and traveled from Europe to Asia, walking along the ancient Silk Road in 1271-95. He remained in China for 17 years (1274-91) and later wrote about the experience in The Million, better known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo.

"In China, he was bedazzled by the magnificent architecture in the capital cities and came face to face with the empire's lively commercial markets. He witnessed the fierce conditions of rugged lands as well as the vivacity of trade at seaports. Indeed, all the lives and wonders that he captured on his travels to China and elsewhere were the epitome of the ancient world of globalization in the thirteenth century," reads the preface for the exhibition at the Shanghai Museum.