THE majestic sight of 14 junks sailing into Hong Kong harbour on the first leg of a nine-month seafaring adventure will not only celebrate the remarkable achievements of voyager Marco Polo, but will also herald new and closer ties between China and the West.
That is the dream of Australian adventurer and historian Jonathan King, a self-confessed ''re-enactment junkie'' whose love of living history saw him work for 10 years to bring about the recreation of the First Fleet voyage from England to Australia for his country's 1988 bicentenary.
He now wants to celebrate the achievements of the Venetian explorer 700 years after he made the historical journey from China to his home port, opening up the East to the West.
Mr King hopes that reliving the voyage of Marco Polo, a journey by sea and land which took about three years to complete and ended in 1295, will achieve a modern trade revival.
One of history's most famous travellers, Marco Polo was the first European to journey overland across some of the world's most dangerous terrain to China and safely return by sea 17 years later, capturing his adventures in a book, Il millone, known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo.
Marco Polo brought to the West stories of noodles, paper money, printing, postal systems and gun powder, opening up trade between East and West along the Great Silk Route.
Mr King visited China and Hong Kong recently to drum up support for the project and to search for the sailing junks which will take part in the re-enactment voyage. He also spread the word among adventurers that berths could be booked.