Did Chinese actually discovered the world before the west?

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1421: The year China discovered the world (written by Gavin Menzies) is to be read with a pinch of salt. Though many of his facts points towards the western sailors sailing to Asia and America using secret maps, it does little to prove that chinese (lead by Admiral Zhang He) are the first to have sailed and chartered the world map. However, logic points to the chinese civilisation, as they are the only civilization capable of doing so at that era. What do you think of this book? If it is true that the chinese are the first to charter the world map, I wonder how would this fact change the history, esspecially the history text in school worldwide. refer to http://www.1421.tv/ for more info of the author's book and research.