The voyages of Zheng He 郑和下西洋 Zheng He was a famous Chinese explorer. 郑和是中国着名的探险家。 In 1405, he set off from China on the first of seven great voyages. 1405年，在七个伟大航海旅行中，他首次从中国起航了。 This was nearly a century before Christopher Columbus first set sail on his journey of discovery to America. 这几乎比哥伦布首次扬帆启程还早一个世纪发现美洲。 His travels were so important that they are still studied today. 他的旅行非常重要，以至于他们至今仍在学习。 Zheng He was born in Yunnan in 1371. 郑和在1371年出生在云南。 He rose to become a trusted official of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. 他成为一个值得信赖的明朝的永乐大帝的官员。 The emperor ordered Zheng He to visit and explorer the lands outside China. 皇帝命令郑和访问和探索中国以外的土地。 His task was to develop relations and set up trade routes with foreign countries. 他的任务是发展关系，建立对外贸易路线。 In a few years, he built a great fleet of ships, the biggest in the world at that time, The ships were known as treasure ships. 几年后，他建立了一个伟大的舰队，那是当时世界上最大的（舰队），（那艘）船被称为宝船。 They were big enough to carry 25000 people as well as very large quantities of goods. 他们大到足以承载25000人以及大批量的货物。 From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went on seven trips and visited South-Est Asia, the Middle East and even the east coast of Africa. 从1405到1433，郑和七次访问东南亚、中东和非洲的东海岸。 It seemed that nowhere was too far for him to visit. 似乎无论他到哪里访问都不太遥远。 These voyages allowed China to trade valuable goods like gold, silver and silk. 这些航行使得中国来贸易贵重物品，如金，银，丝绸。 At the end of each voyage, Zheng He returned with many things that were seen in China for the first time, such as a giraffe from Africa. 在每次航程结束，郑和带回了许多第一次能在中国看到的东西，比如来自非洲的长颈鹿。 Besides developing trade, the voyages also encouraged the exchange of cultures and technologies. 除了发展贸易，航程也促进了文化和技术交流。 They helped the development of those countries and regions. 他们帮助这些国家和地区的发展。 Zheng He died in 1433 during his last voyage. 1433年，郑和在他的最后一次航行中去世。 However, his voyages were such a huge achievement that people still remember him as a pioneer in opening up cultural contacts between different peoples around the world. 然而，他的航行是一个多么巨大的成就，人们仍然记得他是在全世界不同的人们之间开辟文化交流的先锋。 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/d868c84a8662caaedd3383c4bb4cf7ec4bfeb6fc.html