Leaving aside Gan Ying's abortive trip to Rome in the Eastern Han dynasty, contact between China and the West began with the westward expeditions of the Mongols and the record of the legendary Marco Polo.
中國和西方的接觸除了東漢時甘英前往大秦（羅馬），中途折返之外，始於蒙古西征和傳奇人物馬可波羅的記述。