Zheng He

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Zheg's ships brought home at least one giraffe, a gift for the emperor.
Hangzhou still produces the finest silk cloth, one of Zheng He's most prized items and still in worldwide demand today.
Early morning exercise atop Coal Hill, the highest point in Beijing, said to be built on the ruins of the Mongols' palace.
The actors and actresses of the Opera are responsible for their own make-up, which can take hours to apply.
There's no escaping the teacher's attention in a one-room schoolhouse in the Mekong Delta.
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.
Haunting ruins, like these at Angkor Thom, are all that remain of the spectacular kingdom of Angkor.
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...
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.
The reclining Buddha at Wat Lokaya Sutha in Ayutthaya is covered in new saffron robes on Buddha's birthday each year.
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...
Al fresco classes are a change of pace for these students during the hottest months.
One hundred caparisoned elephants light up the night as the procession of penitents continues.
A weaver selects threads dyed in array of colors to be used for the warping of calico.
Wedding revelers in Al Hajirah dance while brandishing their jambiya, the ceremonial daggers worn by most Yemeni men.
The Famao people of Siyu on Pate Island claim Chinese ancestry as descendetns of shipwrecked Chinese sailors from Zheng He's ...
Dressed in kanga cloth, Famao women from the Farouk family pound corn for cornmeal to make bread.
Peak of Interest
This faded mural of Zheng He is painted on the wall of a park dedicated to him in his hometown of Kunyang, in Yunnan province...
The gravity-defying leaps and lightning quick swordwork of Kalaripayatta mimic the movements of animals.
Sailing along Swahili
Sanjeeda, one of the last great sailing dhows, sails into the sunset off the Swahili coast.
The Sanjeeda, one of the last great sailing adhows, catches the wind off the Swahili coast of Kenya.
A tourist stands on the edge of Hainan Island China's southernmost point, considered to be the "end of the civilized world," ...
Forbidden City Beijing
Zheng He was born in a small farming village like this one along the shores of Diandi Lake in Yunnan, a 30 day walk from the ...
Growing up amidst the terraced rice paddies of the landlocked province of Yunnan, Zheng He went on to become China's greatest...
Rice planters work in Xiao, a Mongolian village like Zheng He's birthplace of Kunyang.
The people of Xiao are Muslim, as was Zheng He. Here a villager takes his ducks for a walk.
Zheng He, growing up among people like these villagers washing vegetables in an irrigation canal, did not seem destined for f...
Tobacco, here drying on poles after harvesting is the major cash-crop, other than rice in Yunnan.
Tobacco, here drying on poles after harvesting is the major cash-crop, other than rice in Yunnan.
In the Mongolian tradition elders stay at home to care for the children.
Yunnan, remains China's most ethnically diverse province, home to 25 different Ethnic groups. Zheng He was of Central Asian d...
The imperial tea gardens in Hangzhou still produce China's most precious teas. Zheng He helped spread the culture of tea arou...
A silk farmer spreads lime over worms feeding on mulberry leaves.
A woman boils silk cocoons to separate the threads.
Newly dyed cotton dries in the traditional way. Indigo dyeing was invinted by the Chinese in the Han dynasty.
Hot was is applied to cotton fabric in designs and patterns and then dipped in dye. Here a worker scrapes wax off the dyed co...
The famed blue and white porcelain from the ancient kilns at Jigdezhen is still produce by hand.
The famed blue and white porcelain from the ancient kilns at Jingdezhen is still produced by hand.