Sailing in the wake of Zheng He's voyage

More than 600 years after Zheng He led seven expeditions as far as the east coast of Africa, a navy training vessel named after him has launched the Chinese navy's second global goodwill voyage.
Having left Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning province in mid-April, the training vessel Zheng He - which so far has visited countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Italy, Spain, and Ecuador - is scheduled to make port calls to altogether 11 countries worldwide. The total distance of the route is expected to cover more than 30,000 nautical miles (55,560 km) in a period of five months.
Designed specifically for long-distance voyage, the training vessel can cruise 10,000 nautical miles without refueling, according to Zu Shuming, who was the captain of the Zheng He from 2000 to 2003.