While not finding Kubilai Khan on the throne in Khan-Balik - present-day Beijing - during my own travels to the Middle Kingdom, and finding the communist legacy of the Chairman vastly superceded by the capitalist imperative, modern-day coastal China is again a land of hungry hawkers, some prosperity, rampant mercantilism, and industrious workers that would warm Polo's itemizing heart.
My own travels commenced in May 2006 as an official representative of my nation's national park agency, to formally establish the first sister park relationship between China & the U.S. - Huangshan and Yosemite national parks. Our reception was vastly more friendly, warm and smooth than if you were to travel there on business or on your own initiative, as you can see from the flurry of red carpets that often awaited us. We were fortunate to see Hangzhou, Huangshan and many sites around Beijing during our whirlwind one week visit.