China's Great Armada

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More than 50 mosques, dating from the 12th century, remain in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital.
Sanna, the capital of Yemen surrounded by ancient clay walls, has been an important trading center on the road to Mecca for 2...
Jibla was the former capital of Yemen and reached the heights of its prosperity in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Wedding revelers in Al Hajirah dance while brandishing their jambiya, the ceremonial daggers worn by most Yemeni men.
Wedding revelers in Al Hajirah dance while brandishing their jambiya, the ceremonial daggers worn by most Yemeni men.
The serenity of fishermen's nets in the Persian Gulf belie the tensions in this strategic area of the world.
It was on this beach at Malindi, Kenya, where the king presented Zheng He with a giraffe to bring back to Emperor Zhu Di. Vas...
Fishermen, waiting for high tide, inspect the hulls of their wooden dhows.
The Sanjeeda, one of the last great sailing adhows, catches the wind off the Swahili coast of Kenya.
The Sanjeeda, one of the last great sailing dhows, navigates the waters off the coast of Lamu.
Traditional sailing dhows are still the main form of transportation between the car-less islands of the Lamu archipelago.
The Sanjeeda, one of the last great sailing dhows, navigates the waters off the coast of Lamu.
Sailors create their won form of shadow play, silhouetted by the sun on the Sanjeeda's sails, just off Lamu Island.
A crewmember grapples with the Sanjeeda's huge sail as the dhow catches the wind.
Sanjeeda, one of the last great sailing dhows, sails into the sunset off the Swahili coast.
Pate Island, without cars or electricity, is an unspoiled paradise.
The Famao people of Siyu on Pate Island claim Chinese ancestry as descendetns of shipwrecked Chinese sailors from Zheng He's ...
Swahili Coast
Young Mulsim women on Pate are swathed in the traditional buibui that covers everything but their expressive faces.
Young muslim women on Pate are swathed in the traditional buibui that covers everything but their expressive faces.
The mix of cultures that can be found along the Swahili coast is reflected in the piercing eyes of a young woman enveloped in...
Dressed in kanga cloth, Famao women from the Farouk family pound corn for cornmeal to make bread.
Eid, the traditional Islamic holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, brings out the children of Lamu, dressed in their holida...
Dressed in kanga cloth, Famao women from the Farouk family pound corn for cornmeal to make bread.
At daybreak along the northeast coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania, fishing dhows head out from Matemwe for the open sea.
The day's journey is just beginning for these fishing adhows setting sail from Matemwe on the northeast coast of Zanzibar at ...