A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled ...

Marco Polo marveled at the jeweled splendor of Kublai Khan's summer palace, Shang-tu -- the inspiration for the "Xanadu" of English poet Coleridge's work. Polo was also amazed by the indulgent ...