Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the Age of Discovery. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now Hong Kong is still considered a significant achievement, "for establishing commercial agreements with the Chinese [and for] maintaining the peace".
Exploration
In May 1513, Álvares sailed under the Portuguese Malacca captain Rui de Brito Patalim in a junk from Pegu. The expedition was accompanied by five other junks. Álvares himself was accompanied by two other Portuguese mariners.
Álvares made first contact on Chinese soil on an island near the historic city of Guangzhou in southern China in May 1513. The location of the island, which the Portuguese called Tamão, is not exactly known except that it is in the Pearl River Delta, and scholarship has suggested islands such as Lantau Island and Lintin Island as potential candidates.
According to a 1955 book by J. M. Braga, Álvares "learned about China's culture, religion, finances, and military, valuable information for King Manuel I". Aside from questions as to the location of the place, historians also have no evidence as to the cause of death.