The Mongols brought the East and West together. For the first time the Europeans were in touch with East Asia.

Not just Marco Polo but many Genoese and Venetian merchants as well as Persian astronomers and doctors came to Chna.

In fact, four Persian hospitals were started in Beijing in the 13th century.

The exchange of textiles and artisans influenced the art and culture of all Asia.

The tremendous flow of ideas, of products, of people that occurred in the 13th and 14th centuries is the most important contribution the Mongols made.