Sea, silk and sutras

Ancient annals describe how at the time of the eastern Zhou (770-256 BC) the Qi kingdom possessed many ships that plied through the Yellow Sea. Under the western Han dynasty (206 BC-24 AD) sea-borne trade became an official State activity, and Canton became a major port from which Chinese ships regularly sailed to trade with what is now Viet Nam, Malaysia, Sumatra, India and the Middle East. The return journey along this route took four years.