The party travelled by sea, departing from the southern port city of Quanzhou in the spring of 1291.
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This followed a request by Arghun to his grand-uncle Kublai, following the loss of his favourite wife Bolgana ("Zibeline"): Arghun asked Kublai Khan to send him a relative of his dead wife, and Kublai chose the 17-year-old Kökötchin ("Blue, or Celestial, Dame").