Zheng He explored south-east Asia and went as far as India and Arabia in his voyages; these rivalled anything later undertaken by European explorers.
Citation:
Editors. "Zheng He, the Chinese Admiral, begins his seven voyages in the Indian Ocean".
The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2010
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=9616, accessed 25 May 2013.]