Lan-Chow

, was a city in Cathay. (PROSE: Marco Polo) It lay along the banks of the Yellow River and near the Great Wall of Cathay. (TV: "The Wall of Lies") It was located 200 leagues south-west of Tun-Huang. Marco Polo described it as being not as distinguished as Kan-Chow, Han-Chow, or Lu-Chow. (PROSE: Marco Polo)

Having travelled south along the Wall from Kan-Chow, Marco Polo's caravan – which included the First Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian – passed through Lan-Chow on their way to the court of Kublai Khan. They would then journey north towards Shang-Tu, via Sinju. (TV: "The Wall of Lies")

According to another account, the caravan instead stayed in Lan-Chow, for a while, in a way-station, before heading directly for Shang-Tu from there. (PROSE: Marco Polo)

Behind the scenes

 * The journey through Lan-Chow was only mentioned in Marco Polo's narration. As such, Lan-Chow is never actually seen in the serial itself. In the novelisation, the scenes which originally took place in Cheng-Ting instead take place in Lan-Chow.