When did the Polos arrive in China?

Marco Polo was the first European to cross the entire continent of Asia and leave a record of his travels. He was born in Venice in 1254, the son of Niecolo Polo, an important Venetian merchant. In 1271, Niccolo and Marco began a four-year journey across the moutains and deserts of Asia that ended at the Summer Palace of the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan. The emperor received the travellers with great hospitality, and he made Marco one of his honored attendants. The Polos spent seventeen years in China, and Marco carried out many missions for the emperor in distant parts of the empire.
     The Polos left China in 1292, Kublai Khan was then a very old man, and the Polos afraid that jealous court officials would harm them when the emperor died. They learned that a princess was going to travel to Persia, and they obtained Kublai Khan’s permission to travel with her. The expedition traveled to Persia by ship, and the Polos traveled from there to Venice. They arrived there in 1295, having been away for twenty-four years.
     A few years later, Marco was taken prisoner in sea battle between Venice and Genoa. While he was in prison, he met a writer, a recorder of his travels. He was released from prison and returned to Venice where he died in 1324.