In Marco Polo's footsteps: from Venice to the Holy Land, through the Middle East to the home of the assassins of Alamut. Marco Polo's famous 13th century journey from Venice to Beijing and beyond is retraced in modern times, exploring the worlds he wrote about, seeing what they look like now and asking searching questions about the relationship between East and West, then and now.
A childhood fascination with the Italian explorer became a lifelong passion for Professor Qiguang Zhao, a teacher of Chinese culture, who travels to Venice to chase the 'shadow' of Marco Polo. While seeking out the Marco Polo story, he contemplates the meaning and implications of a westerner discovering the East back then and asks what resonance that has for the world today.
While the professor remains in Venice, searching the libraries and old buildings for clues to the meanings of the Marco Polo story, a young man from Venice, of similar age to the Marco Polo of 1271, sets out to replicate the physical journey, quoting from Marco Polo's various written accounts. Through narration, the quotes from Marco Polo's books and the contemplations of Professor Zhao, the episode builds a picture of the first part of the journey.
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