English: Some of the major long-distance military-diplomatic expeditions of the Yongle and Xuande reigns of the Ming Dynasty (1402-1435).

BLACK: Route of the 7th expedition of Zheng He's fleet (1431-1433).

• Solid line: the route of the main fleet from Nanjing to Hormuz, as described in Xia Xiyang (下西洋).
• Dashed line: a possible route of Hong Bao's squadron, to Bengal, Arabia and Africa, based on suggestions made in Dreyer (2007) (who uses Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan (瀛涯胜览), Ming shi and other sources.
• Dotted line: travel of 7 Chinese explorers, on an Indian (or Arab? vessel) and by caravan from Calicut to Mecca and Medina.
• Red circles: cities thought to have been visited by the fleets of Zheng He, or the elements of the fleet, on the 7th and/or earlier voyages.
• Green circles: important places in the biography of Zheng He, and Arabian cities visited by Ma Huan.

The previous 6 expeditions went along similar routes (the first 3, only to Calicut; 3rd through 6th, to Hormuz and other points in Africa/Arabia).

BLUE: Yishiha's expeditions from Jilin down the Sungari and the Amur to Tyr (Telin) (1411-1426)

GREEN: Approximate route of Chen Cheng, an envoy to the Timurid Empire (1414, 1416, 1420)

Sources:

The main source for Zheng He routes: chapter on the last expedition of Zheng He in: Dreyer E. L., Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433. — Longman, 2007. — 256 p. — (Library of World Biography Series). — ISBN 0321084438.

The cities in Bengal are given as per : Barbosa, Duarte & Dames, Mansel Longworth (1996), An Account Of The Countries Bordering On The Indian Ocean And Their Inhabitants; Written By Duarte Barbosa And Completed About The Year 1518 A.D. Vol 1: Including The Coasts Of East Africa, Arabia, Persia And Western India As Far As The Kingdom Of Vijayanagar. Vol. Ii: Including The Coasts Of Malabar, Eastern India, Further India, China And The Indian Archipelago., Asian Educational Services, pp. 138-139, ISBN 8120604512

The routes of Yishiha and Chen Cheng are based on the descriptions in the articles "Isiha" and "Ch'en Ch'eng" in: Goodrich, L. Carrington; Fang, Chaoying, eds. (1976), Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368–1644. Volume I (A-L), Columbia University Press, pp. 685–686, ISBN 0-231-03801-1