Zheng He

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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.
Michael Yamashita on the Great Wall of China.
The Sultan of Brunei's visit to China on one of Zheng He's ships solidified the friendship between China and Brunei, although...
Water taxis ply the waterways of Kampong Ayer, the maze of stilt houses built along the banks of the Brunei River.
Kampong Ayer houses 30,000 people in 28 water villages, built on stilts over the Sungei Brunei.
Kampong Ayer houses 30,000 people in 28 water villages, built on stilts over the Sungei Brunei.
A Brunei bride greets her weeding guests and awaits the arrival of the groom.
Schoolchildren queue for a fingernail check-up in a Brunei classroom.
Even the most dedicated young scholars have their daydreams,
Even the most dedicated young scholars have their daydreams,
The mosque with its golden dome looms over the warren of stilt houses that line the river in Burnei's capital, Bandar Deri Be...
Woven mats are rolled out in preparation for Friday prayers at Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Children today are taught the fundamentals of Islam at an early age, as was the young Zheng He.
Women worshipers, in snow-white tudong, the traditional head-covering, are segregated from the men at the Saifuddien Mosque.
Women worshipers, in snow-white tudong, the traditional head-covering, are segregated from the men at the Saifuddien Mosque.
Dawn over the Grand Mosque. Zheng He, with his Muslim roots, must have been pleased to visit this bastion of Islam.
Weir fishing off the coast fo Sumatra, Indonesia.
Weir fishing off the coast fo Sumatra, Indonesia.
Salt-gathering in evaporation ponds in Gresik is done only on sunny days.
A bugis schooner under full sail in the South China Sea Indonesia is home to the last great sailing fleet in the world.
Children take their lessons in Koran school against a backdrop of one of Zheng He's (or Cheng Ho, as he is known here) treasu...
Wayang Beber storytelling is a traditional art form in Indonesia.
Betel-nut chewing is a pastime enjoyed by all ages and genders
Zheng He found Chinese an other foreigners living along the banks o the Sungei Musi River, as these Yamenese Arabs do today.
Wedding celebrations can last for days in Palembang.
A performer in the San Po festival portrays one of San Po's (Zheng He) soldiers, who will escort the Admiral-god's image from...
On the last day of the sixth lunar month, many of the faithful from all over Asia dress as Zheng He soldiers and gather to ho...
Zheng He "soldiers" wear make-up as elaborate and colorful as might be seen in a Chinese Opera.
The festival, replete with lion and dragon dancers, lasts three days.
Both Buddhists and Muslims worship here at Semarang's Tay Kak Sie Temple, in hopes that Zheng He will answer their prayers.
An image of Zheng He is paraded through the streets of Semarang inside a portable shrine, mimicking the movement of a ship ov...
The Ijen Volcano multiplex is a common place for sulfur mining and is comprised of several composite volcanos in Banyuwangi R...
Workers carry loads of sulfur, some weighing up to 175 lbs (80 kg), making three trips in a ten-hour day to the top of the vo...
Temperatures at the volcano can exceed 40 degrees celsius, and workers use face cloths to protect themselves from the noxious...
Temperatures at the volcano can exceed 40 degrees celsius, and workers use face cloths to protect themselves from the noxious...
A sulfur collector carries the yellow blocks in cane baskets up the edge of the volcano in the early dawn haze.
Pura Besakih is the most important temple in Bali, where the kind of tolerence espoused by Zheng He has been practiced for ce...
Once the most popular sport in Indonesia, cock fighting and the gambling that goes along with it is now officially banned, th...
In the best fighting form, these cocks and their handlers prepare for battle.
Malacca, Malaysia was China's first large-scale overseas settlement and now home of the Peranakan, or Straits-born Chinese.
The sacred mountain, Adam's Peak, rises through the mist above Sri Lanka.
Fishermen on Negombo Beach in Sri Lanka, haul in their dugout outrigger sailing canoes afer a day at sea.
Some say that Beijing Opera, introduced to India by Zheng He, inspired the elaborate make-up of the Kathakali drama of Kerala.
In Malacca's biggest Hindu festival of the year, Datak Chachar, celebrants give thanks to the gods for prayers answered by pa...
Most fo the festival devotees are Chinese, descended from settlers who arrived with Zheng He's fleet. These Peranakan (Strait...
The wounds inflicted by the spikes and hooks do not bleed, and participants claim not to feel pain while in their trancelike ...
At the peak of the Datak Chachar festival, the procession of penitents, skin punctured with fishhooks, passes through Malacca.
In the most extreme form of body piercing, a Malaccan kavadi bearer wears this cage of spikes and fishhooks as reparation for...