Gan Ying

Gan Ying (Chinese: 甘英; pinyin: Gān Yīng; fl. 97 CE) was a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and military official who was sent on a mission to the Roman Empire to find out more about it in 97 CE by the Chinese military general Ban Chao. Gan Ying did not reach Rome, only traveling to as far as the "western sea" which could refer to either the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, or the Parthian coast of the Persian Gulf. From there he could have followed the Euphrates north to the Roman border in Syria in a few weeks, but he did not know this and instead he planned to sail around Arabia to Roman Egypt, which would have taken 3 months. Becoming discouraged by local sailors' stories of bad weather, he gave up and went home.