Chinese marvels

Chinese marvels

The Italian traveler Marco Polo marveled at many Chinese customs that were unfamiliar to him. Among these were the mining and burning of coal, which he called black stones. In the 1200's, the use of coal for fuel was unknown in Europe. Polo also wondered at the use of paper money, which bore the seal of the Chinese emperor. The Chinese made the paper from the inner bark of mulberry trees. At that time, Europeans traded with heavy coins made of copper, gold, or lead. The black lions that Polo described were panthers.