Mapping Zheng He's Treasure Fleet as a Map Animation

A century before European ships rounded Africa, Zheng He's treasure fleet was already crossing the Indian Ocean: hundreds of vessels, some five times the size of a caravel. Seven voyages in all, and the makings of a great map animation.

Chart the seventh voyage

1. Add the classic ports as stops: Nanjing, Champa, Malacca, Calicut, Hormuz, and Malindi on the East African coast.
2. Set each leg to Sail mode. Our guide on how to animate ocean and sailing routes on a map covers the wake styling and durations.
3. Swap the default marker for the fleet icon so the armada, not a lone ship, crosses the frame. It reads clearly even at phone size.

Style a label for every port

The ports tell the story of a trade network, so make each one read differently. Click any pin to open the Text panel and use Label Styler to time the reveals. Malacca's label should appear as the fleet arrives, not before. Staggering the reveals this way makes the route feel like a voyage instead of a diagram, and a callout at Calicut noting the pepper trade turns a stop into a scene.

The other great circumnavigation era

For a striking classroom or documentary pairing, cut this against Magellan's voyage as a map animation. Same ocean scale, opposite direction, a hundred years apart.

Lay down your own seven voyages in Route Builder and let the fleet sail.