China's Great Armada

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With Zheng He's many stops in India, this Chinese art form may have influenced the development of the equally elaborate Katha...
Zhu Di vastly expanded the empire's canal system in order to bring supplies from the south of China to the newly built capita...
Watertowns like Tongli and Xitang have changed little since the 15th century Ming Dynasty.
Watertowns like Tongli and Xitang have changed little since the 15th century Ming Dynasty.
The Grand Canal extends from here to the capital of Beijing- a distance of almost 1000 miles (1600 km), the longest man-made ...
Sunrise in Tongli brings everyone to the cal for washing and collection water.
The Grand Canal, shown here in Suzhou, sees as much traffic as in Zheng He's day, as China once again experiences a building ...
The section of the Great Wall in Jinshanling, built by Ming Emperor Zhu Di is the largest single construction project in the ...
Great Wall of China
Though monumental in scale, the Great Wall, here at sunset at Jinshanling, did little to stop the Mongols from treatening China.
The Ming Wall was longer, higher, wider and better fortified than any previous wall built before this dynasty.
Pony round-up, Mongolian-style. It was the looming threat of the Mongols that changed Ming China's focus from the sea and Zhe...
Brocade-clad cowboys wrangler their ponies for annual inoculations. The Mongolian horse has always been famed for its sturdin...
Brocade-clad cowboys wrangler their ponies for annual inoculations. The Mongolian horse has always been famed for its sturdin...
The Mongols, with their swift ponies, were the most ferocious army in the 15th Century. After Zhu Dhi took sick and died whil...
A portrait of Genghis Khan hangs in every Mongolian yurt, the circular, domed tents used as housing by these nomadic peoples.
The Hakka, Southeast Asia's most prominent imigrant group, began emigrating from China soon after Zheng He's last voyage. The...
The Hakka, Southeast Asia's most prominent imigrant group, began emigrating from China soon after Zheng He's last voyage. The...
Perhaps Zheng He's greatest legacy is the Diaspora, the dispersal of Chinese culture and people throughout the world that con...
The distinctive round towers of the Hakka were once mistaken by American satellites for missile silos.
Wtih seasonal winds of the northern monsoon blowing te Treasure Fleet south, Vietnam was always Zheng He's first landfall. He...
The Mekong Delta is Vietnam's rice bowl.
Rice requires constant tending. In Vietnam, family members work in teams to do the tedious job of weeding.
Irrigation is done by hand, one basketful at a time.
Water buffalo surfing, Mekong Delta.
Crossing these "monkey bridges," as these spindly structures are called, requires the agility of a simian.
The fishing fleet at Nha Trang harbor.
Large catches can still be had off the beaches south of Halong Bay.
Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. People are granted the privilage of boiling seawater to make salt.
Traders meet at the confluence of five canals at Phung Hiep.
Traders meet at the confluence of five canals at Phung Hiep.
Traders meet at the confluence of five canals at Phung Hiep.
A young son trusts his father will not tip the boat at the floating market in Phung Hiep.
Experienced sampan scullers use their feet as well as their hands.
The growing season is year-round in the Delta's hot and humid climate.
Marigolds grow over the waer, much of Zheng He grew vegetables on the decks of his ships.
Flower growers and sellers do a brisk business for the Tet New Year in Cantho Market.
These bamboo bucket boats in Nha Trang have not changed since Zheng He's visits here 600 years ago.
There's no escaping the teacher's attention in a one-room schoolhouse in the Mekong Delta.
The great kingdom of Angkor reached its height between the 9th and 13th centuries. Less than a century after Zheng He visited...
A baby sleeps, cradled in a fishing net in Siem Riep.
Floating fish farmers anchor along the shores fo the great lake Tonle Sap near Siem Riep.
Stilt houses stand on the edge of Tonle Sap in Kampong Chhang. Zheng He's chronicler Fei Hsin called Kampang Chhang the south...
Two fisherman confront the raging cataracts of Khone Falls, gingerly tossing their nets to catch fish as they jump through th...
Haunting ruins, like these at Angkor Thom, are all that remain of the spectacular kingdom of Angkor.
Wat Si Chom, Sukhothai, Thailand: the chronicles of the journey written by Ma Huan mention the Thai devotion to Buddha and la...
The gilded ruins of Ayutthaya, like these at Wat Phra Mahathat, which was the capital when Zheng He visited in 1407, hint at ...
Tourists ride elephants once reserved for kings.
Monks of Wat Phanan Choeng dedicate their prayers to their god of prosperity, San Bao, as Zheng He is known here. He is also ...
The 62 ft (19 m) high San Bao Buddha in Ayutthaya is worshiped by draping saffron-colored cloth over the Buddha's shoulders a...