Zheng He

Zheng He (1371–1433), was a Hui Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean."

Zheng He in In High Places
In an alternate where 4 in 5 Europeans were killed in the Great Black Deaths, Zheng He still made his explorations. However, while China was the richest and most powerful country of that alternate, it never filled the void of exploration and technological development that the crippled Europe left, much to the puzzlement of Crosstimers.