Agree. I like the way he used mobile phones as an indicator of where we are, so to speak.
Meanwhile, I researched a lil' bit about Chinese naval power in 1400s, and their visit to Africa and came up with this:
China’s greatest naval explorer sailed his treasure fleets as far as East Africa
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2020/05/chinas-greatest-naval-explorer-sailed-his-treasure-fleets-as-far-as-east-africa
In his 4th voyage (and this one to Africa) Zheng He reached the Cape of Good Hope with ships that were a magnitude or so larger than the puny Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria in Columbus' fleet.
My memory failed me in the sense that Zheng He never got around the Cape of Good Hope due to trade winds.
I must have read the book about this approx 20 odd years ago, but cannot find the title. I doubt very much that there has been anything since then on Chinese going around the Northern route, hence my comment.
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