‘Marco Polo’ a favored trademark in China

Marco Polo has long been a household name both in the East and the West. In his book The Travels of Marco Polo, to 13th-Century Italian merchant and explorer recorded his travel experiences, showing the great size, rich culture and prosperity of China and many other Asian cities and countries.

For centuries, Polo and his writings have opened a window to numerous Europeans who were curious about the mysterious, glamorous Eastern land. As a symbol of the timehonored friendship between China and Italy, Polo is still remembered and liked by many people of the two countries.

In China, the man is so popular that many enterprises have been named Marco Polo or registered trademarks of Marco Polo. Searching the key words “ma ke bo luo (Marco Polo’s Chinese translation)” on a businesses search platform called tianyancha.com, one can see over 2,000 results containing company names and trademarks in various fields.

The Marco Polo Group based in South China’s Guangdong Province, for instance, is an architectural ceramics manufacturer and distributor that many Chinese residents have heard of. “I see its ceramic tile advertisements on TV sometimes,” 27-year-old Shanghai citizen Chen Liang told the Global Times.

The first time Chen heard about the Italian explorer was during her junior high-school classes. “My history teacher told us that Polo traveled to China in our Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368),” she recalled.

In the food industry, China’s leading meat processor Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co produces a ham sausage named “Marco Polo.” Its retail price is around 9 yuan ($1.35) per 250 grams.

While she hasn’t tasted the sausage, Chen said she has tried some other “Marco Polo” food products. “In Shanghai, there is a bakery brand named Marco Polo with several stores across the city,” she said.

Marco Polo is also the name of a chain hotel as well. The Hong Kong-based Marco Polo Hotels has 13 branches in Hong Kong, Chinese mainland and the Philippines, according to its official website.

“Polo and his works contributed to the mutual understanding between people of the two countries,” said Chen.

“It is no exaggeration to say that, in today’s China, almost everyone knows him,” she told the Global Times.