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Thursday, July 08, 2004

Oceanic odyssey remains a treasure

Question for the ages: Who circumnavigated the globe 87 years before Italian explorer Cristopher Columbus (1451-1506) and 114 years before Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)?

Answer: Zheng He (1371-1433) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The ancient Chinese mariner travelled to the West seven times from 1405 to 1433, sailing more than 50,000 kilometres and visiting 37 countries and regions.


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