Zheng He (1371-1435), or Cheng Ho, is arguably China's most famous navigator. Starting from the beginning of the 15th Century, he traveled to the West seven times. For 28 years, he traveled more than 50,000km and visited over 30 countries, including Melaka (Malacca). Zheng He died in the tenth year of the reign of the Ming emperor Xuande (1435) and was buried in the southern outskirts of Bull's Head Hill (Niushou) in Nanjing.

Columbus sailed to America in St. Maria (eighty-five feet) in 1492. Zheng He (Cheng Ho) sailed from China to many places throughout South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Taiwan, Persian Gulf and distant Africa in seven epic voyages from 1405 to 1433 , some 80 years before Columbus's voyages.During these epic voyages, Zheng He visited the Sultanate of Melaka (Malacca).
Zheng He flag "treasure ship" is four hundred feet long - much larger than Columbus's.

For more about Cheng Ho, there is a full-length book by Louise Levathes, "When China Ruled the Seas", reprinted by Oxford Univ. Pr, 1996, ISBN 0-195-112075