Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys at about the same time as Mesopotamia, Egypt and India developed their first civilizations.
For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. Paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing for example, are Chinese inventions. Chinese developments in astronomy and medicine were extensive. There were also great achievements of engineering not to be matched in Europe until centuries later, such as the Dujiangyan Irrigation System in Sichuan built during the Qin Dynasty (around 200 BC), and the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou with its complex system of locks, built during the Sui Dynasty (around 600 AD).
China also explored widely and traded extensively with distant countries. By the 5th and 6th centuries AD, voyages to India and the Arab countries were routine. In the 7th century, Arab traders first introduced Islam into China. In the 15th century, the Ming Dynasty fleets under Admiral Zheng reached as far as East Africa. These ships were technologically very advanced, much larger than European ships of the day, and equipped with a system of watertight compartments that Europe was not to match for several centuries. These voyages were not for settlement or conquest, but for trade and exploration.
