I have read that Chinese explorers were very accomplished. Certainly they traded by ship regionally and explored. Did they know Alaska existed or the Alleutian islands? How far did they follow this coast? When did they learn of NA's existence, and when they did and the west coast was still empty land, why didn't they attempt to set up any colonies of their own?
Not specifically asking about the Chinese. I'm interested in any information about the discovery of the continents from west to east.
It's weird to think about the fact that as a planet, we just got to the point of realizing there were other people in other places 1000 years ago.