A copy of the 1515 French edition of the Travels of Marco Polo is exhibited in the literature library themed Marco Polo, northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Oct. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Rihan)

The private library, which houses precious versions of "Travels of Marco Polo" translated in over 20 languages, is thought to have the largest collection of books on Marco Polo in China.

HOHHOT, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A literature library with a collection of more than 2,000 books and research documents on Marco Polo from over 30 countries has opened in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The private library, which houses precious versions of "Travels of Marco Polo" translated in over 20 languages, is thought to have the largest collection of books on Marco Polo in China.

Most of the books were collected by local scholars over the past 20 years.

Multilingual versions of the Travels of Marco Polo are exhibited in the library themed Marco Polo, northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Oct. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Rihan)

Qi Baoting, the founder of the library, introduced that some of the items contain little-known stories about Marco Polo's travels in Inner Mongolia.

The library will provide readers with first-hand literature materials to know about the history of the region, said Qi.

Italian explorer Marco Polo traveled along the ancient Silk Road to reach China in the 13th century. His travels are recorded in the book "Travels of Marco Polo," which attracted many Western people to come to the East. ■