So, I had the idea for a collaborative TL where China sets up some colonies in East Africa. Eventually, China is able to spread upwards to North Africa, and soon makes contact with Europe.
What issues next is fight for survival as China, wanting to ensure itself as the dominate power of the Mediterranean, invades Italy, sparking a massive war against a coalition of European and Asian nations fighting for the what starts out as the Italian Peninsula, but soon spreads to Greece and Iberia.