 The Chinese were intrigued with European technology , but so were visiting Europeans of Chinese technology . In 1584 , Abraham Ortelius ( 1527 – 1598 ) featured in his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum the peculiar Chinese innovation of mounting masts and sails onto carriages , just like Chinese ships . Gonzales de Mendoza also mentioned this a year later — noting even the designs of them on Chinese silken robes — while Gerardus Mercator ( 1512 – 94 ) featured them in his atlas , John Milton ( 1608 – 74 ) in one of his famous poems , and Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest ( 1739 – 801 ) in the writings of his travel diary in China . 
