IN 1294 when Italian explorer Marco Polo returned home with oriental (东方的) treasures, innovations (发明) and wonderful stories, people in Venice came to know the Silk Road, the legendary trade route. Even then, at Polo''s deathbed, a priest (牧师) came to ask whether he wanted to confess (坦白) his lies. "I didn''t tell half of what I saw," Polo answered.