Some scholars are disputing the validity of Marco Polo’s writings, a few even speculating that he never made it to China. In part 4 of the documentary Bradley Mayhew explores in detail Marco Polo's route through China. He visits the remote ruins of Kublai Khan's summer palace at Xanadu, researches Beijing and travels by boat down the Grand Canal of China to the metropolis of Hangzhou, described by Marco Polo as "the finest city in the world". Did the Venetian make it to China? Follow Bradley Mayhew and find out for yourself.

"Marco Polo Reloaded" is a four-part documentary series retracing the route of Marco Polo. We accompany Bradley Mayhew as he discovers the countries, the people and their culture along this legendary route. This app contains a 52 minutes long episode of the documentary film 'Marco Polo Reloaded', along with short clips and many impressive photos and travel quotations.

"The Mogao Caves of Dunhuang are perhaps the artistic highlight of the entire Silk Road. I've been to the caves a half-dozen times now and they are always mind-blowing, especially when you can spot the blending of styles from Afghanistan, Central Asia, Tibet and China. It's a fusion in the very best tradition of the Silk Road.

Lanzhou was the first big Chinese city of the trip and a reminder of just how increasingly modern and consumer-orientated China is becoming. Sipping green tea overlooking the Yellow River while listening to Chinese classical music was a delightful and quintessentially Chinese experience after the hardship of the desert. After years of studying the language and travelling in China I feel quite at home there now and Marco did too, eventually, spending a total of 17 years in the country.

One of my favourite experiences in China was fishing with the cormorants. The old fisherman clearly loved his job and his birds and sang continuously to his little friends. He seemed to me like the commander of a crack squad of miniature marines. I didn't realize at the time that each cormorant had his own specific position on the boat according to rank and seniority and so I kept placing the birds back in the wrong location, which upset them immensely. My hands ended up with dozens of little cuts from disgruntled cormorants trying to reassert their power. There's a lot of swearing in English and childish threatening of birds that didn't make it into the final film!

But when you see the sights described by Marco, when you feel the thin air he described on the Pamir Plateau or read the level of detail in descriptions of Hangzhou or Tibetan monasteries, it's hard not to see the striking similarities. All guidebook writers at some point don't have time to walk every hiking trail or visit a village blocked by snow or landslides; you collect sources and tidbits of information from books and guides to give an overview of a place. Once you understand the nature of his book - that it's a trade manual, a description of the world, seen and unseen, and of marvels, stories and legends that were current at the time - then the veracity of every story doesn't seem so important. Did Marco Polo travel to China? I think he did. Just maybe not quite the way he tells it. And that's travel literature for you.“ – Bradley Mayhew

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