Why have scholars questioned whether Marco Polo actually traveled to China?

A new study restores the Venetian explorer's honor by offering evidence that he did indeed reach China and Mongolia.

Explanation:

Born around 1254 in the Venetian Republic, Marco Polo headed to Asia with his merchant father at age 17. He would spend the next 24 years exploring distant lands and documenting his observations, which would later be published in a manuscript known as “The Travels of Marco Polo.” By the explorer’s own account, he ventured deep into China and Mongolia, serving for some time in the court of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Polo eventually returned to Venice, where he died a wealthy merchant.

As early as the mid-18th century, some people began raising doubts about Marco Polo’s travels, pointing to seemingly glaring omissions in his descriptions of the Far East. In 1995 historian Frances Wood argued in her book “Did Marco Polo Go to China?” that the famous Venetian never made it past the Black Sea. She noted that his travelogue leaves out the Great Wall of China, the practice of binding women’s feet, chopsticks and tea drinking, among other details; furthermore, Chinese documents from Polo’s day make no mention of the explorer and his retinue.

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