What if - Zheng he discovered Europe?

The infamous Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He has long been the center of controversy.

Some people have suggested that he not only made it into the Atlantic by going around the cape but could have also made it the the east coast of North America.

Whether this happened or not, my question is: What if Zheng He had discovered Europe?

Maybe Zheng He had sailed up the coast of africa and ended up in Portugal or Castile?

What would the chinese fleet do? Would they be welcomed? or not?
How would the Portuguese or Castilian Monarchs react?
What would Zheng He do?
 
Some people have suggested that he not only made it into the Atlantic by going around the cape but could have also made it the the east coast of North America.

Weren't his ships only suited for hugging the coasts and too late/impracticable to survive the open ocean?
 
It's not as if oceangoing ships didn't exist in Asia. A Chinese explorer - not Zheng He's famous prestige fleet, but some other one - definitely could have rounded Africa. They had the technology and all.

Incentive was what was lacking. Europe had little that Asia wanted. Asia had everything Europe wanted. Hell, Africa probably had more stuff of value to Ming China than Europe at this point in time - most of what Europeans produced wasn't exceptionally rare or difficult to source from elsewhere.
 
As mentioned before, the Chinese were already plenty aware of Europe, but just didn't have much reason to head over there.

Say Zheng He DID land in Europe, they would probably be welcomed, exchange a few "curiosities" and head home. Without the incentive of valuable trade goods the chance of sustained contact is slim to none though, I'd say. If anything, a few enterprising Europeans might want to follow them home, spurring an earlier European push east.
 
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