Against Chinese, it makes even more sense to go Master Smiths because they get Zhuge Nu without going to Song Dynasty. When you're up against Zhuge Nu, having Master Smiths is very very strong.

Desert Raiders don't spawn straight away anymore, so that's a very big delay against China.

Reinforcement wing in the feudal age gives one strong camel at a time. That could be annoying for China because they're not able to walk around the map and make units to deal with that early.

Zhuge Nu are very effective against Desert Raiders.

Desert Raiders decimate Palace Guard.