Led the Mongols to their greatest victory, the conquest of Sung China, by incorporating Chinese methods (siege engineers, primitive artillery, ships) with traditional Mongolian reliance on cavalry. After the conquest, Kublai did not loot the country or massacre its inhabitants (as his relatives did in Russia, Iran and Iraq) but ruled as a benevolent hybrid Mongol chieftain/Chinese emperor. He depended largely on foreigners (including the Italian merchant, Marco Polo) to balance the power of his Chinese and Mongolian advisors. Kublai's greatest failure was his attempts to conquer Japan, which twice ended in disaster due to the destruction of the invasion fleet by storms (the Mongols never quite got the knack of naval warfare, though they were unmatched on land).

Kublai Khan was Genghis Khan's grandson. So many people misunderstand that Genghis Khan rule the empire that extended from Beijing to Eastern Europe. That is wrong, cause Genghis Khan only ruled the whole China that not include the Europe, and Yuan Dynasty still not even exist. Kublai Khan created Yuan Dynasty, ruled the whole the empire that extended from Beijing to Eastern Europe.