The Great Ming Empire: The Age of Exploration

On seven voyages, the eunuch Zheng He led his fleet from Nanjing, gathering at Liujiagang in Taicang, Jiangsu, before mooring at Taiping Harbor in Changle, Fuzhou, Fujian, to await favorable winds and set sail [2][3]. He voyaged across the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, visiting more than 30 countries and regions, including Java, Sumatra, Sulu, Pahang, Chenla, Calicut, Siam, Bengal, Aden, Arabia, Dhofar, Hormuz, and Mogadishu. The farthest known destinations were East Africa and the Red Sea. [4]

Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean were the largest maritime expeditions in ancient Chinese history in terms of scale, ships, and crew, as well as duration. Before the European voyages of discovery at the end of the fifteenth century, they were the largest series of maritime expeditions in world history.