China

Going east from Mediterranean Europe one would encounter people of increasingly different appearence. The "Saracens" (i.e., the Muslim inhabitants of the Holy Land and other parts of the Levant), were not too different looking from Europeans, although the "eastern" clothing and manners made one think so. But the Indians, at least those from south India, were darker, and as one proceeded further eastwards, one would encounter people who had a distinctive skinfold in the corner of their eyes. Farther north, on the great Eurasian plains, one could also encounter similar looking people with the distinctive eyes and facial features. To us moderns they might look like Chinese, but they weren't. The Chinese (or "Han" as they put it) are a distinct group who first appeared in what is now north-east China, south of Manchuria. While most of the east Asian people looked similar, they possessed vastly different cultures and languages. Europeans were first introduced to these distinctive looking people when the Huns (who came from Mongolia) invaded Europe in the 5th Century. Before that, only far ranging merchants would have encountered Han, or Han related peoples. In the 13th Century, an Italian adventurer, Marco Polo, journeyed to China and for many years served the Chinese government (then controlled by the Mongol Khans). Marco was by no means the first European to travel to China and back (indeed his father and uncle had made the round trip even before he did). But Marco did something different, he wrote a book about it. The Travels of Marco Polo was what would today be called an "instant best seller" (despite having to be reproduced by hand), and began Western Civilization's fascination with things Chinese.