China's Great Armada

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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.
The porcelain glaze is applied by hand, the final step before firing in the kilns.
Herbal medicines have always been high on the list of Chinese trade goods. Zheng he brought 180 doctors and pharpacologists ...
Zheng He may have passed nets like these on his way to the South China Sea.
Aquaculture in China, here in Maluan Bay, was described by Marco Polo in the 13th century.
The last rays of the day are reflected in oyster beds off Xiamen.
Women do the dirty work of harvesting the oysters.
At sunrise on the China Sea, off Meizhou Island, fishermen bring their catches to market.
The catch is so paltry that chopsticks are used to pick out the edible fish.
Zheng he recruited thousands from this area long the coasts of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujan to build and sail the ships of t...
The descendents of Zheng He's crews on Hainan Island clean their catch, working in much the same way as their ancestors did 6...
The descendents of Zheng He's crews on Hainan Island clean their catch, working in much the same way as their ancestors did 6...
These are the last of the wooden junks on Hainan Island, as China banned the use of wood as a building material for fishing b...
China's largest fishing fleet sails from Hainan. Zheng He commanded a fleet of 300 ships of varying sizes, with the largest m...
Zhu Di moved his capital from Nanjing 600 miles north to Beijing, at a huge cost.
Forbidden City Beijing
The Forbidden City
In springtime, fishermen line the bank of the moat that surrounds the Forbidden City.
Early morning exercise atop Coal Hill, the highest point in Beijing, said to be built on the ruins of the Mongols' palace.
A Beijing Opera actress powders up before applying her make-up.
The actors and actresses of the Opera are responsible for their own make-up, which can take hours to apply.
The actors and actresses of the Opera are responsible for their own make-up, which can take hours to apply.
With Zheng He's many stops in India, this Chinese art form may have influenced the development of the equally elaborate Katha...
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