Italian grandmother puts her best foot forward

Cammarota enjoys a cup of tea with a family in Kashgar. The moment she set foot in China on Aug 29, she was warmly greeted by people who presented her with a wreath, symbolizing friendship and blessings, and put on traditional dance and singing performances for her arrival via Irkeshtam, the country's farthest-west land port in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Inspired by Marco Polo, who traveled to China along the ancient Silk Road in 1275, Cammarota set off from the legendary explorer's hometown of Venice to retrace the route on foot. Marco Polo lived in China for 17 years and in his travelogue provided detailed descriptions of the country, which allowed Westerners to learn about the allure of this Eastern nation for the first time, Cammarota says. "I want to compare the China described by Marco Polo over 700 years ago with the China of today through my journey.