How did China’s relations with European countries develop? What have the Europeans

How did China’s relations with European countries develop? What have the Europeans done to establish contact with China? What did the people of China do to protect themselves from the influence of the Europeans?

China in various “versions” has lived in isolation for a long time. This applies to all empires: Han, Qin, Song, Sui, Tang, Ming, Yuan, Qing (the latter rules from 1683 or 1644 to 1911). The first contacts with Europe were back in the times of the Roman Empire, for example, in the 1st century AD, they took place in the 8th century with Byzantium and in the 13th-14th centuries after the creation of the Mongol Empire.
By sea, the first Europeans arrived in China around 1520, they were the Portuguese, followed by the Spanish, Dutch and English.
In China, there were measures to isolate the country and limit the stay of foreigners in it. For example, in the middle of the 18th century, only Macau and Guangzhou were in China for the trade of Europeans.