Malacca, Malaysia

Malacca, Malaysia 马六甲

Melaka is the name in Malaysia. Chinese name 马六甲. 回到明朝，明成祖朱隶派太监郑和下西洋，目的为何, 无明确解释 -

鄭和（1371年9月23日－1433年），原姓馬，色目人，小名三宝，又作三保，雲南昆陽（今晉寧昆阳街道）寶山鄉知代村人，明成祖賜姓鄭，故稱鄭和。中國明代偉大的航海家、外交家、宦官及武術家。鄭和奉明成祖之命開始他的七次遠航，歷時28年，访问了30多個西太平洋和印度洋沿岸的國家和地區，史稱「鄭和下西洋」，總航程達七萬多海里，足繞地球三週有餘[1]，其航程之遠及船隊規模之大，為歷史罕見，比哥倫布發現新大陸，早了近一個世紀。

在外交及軍事方面，鄭和下西洋的功蹟包括推翻斯里蘭卡王朝及蘇門答臘君主、懲治了海盜並扶植马六甲，由一個小漁村將其變成一強大國際貨品轉運站。

Above extracted from Wikipedia)

宝山亭

郑和井

马六甲侨胞抗日殉难纪念碑

马六甲气候炎热，food court 如下

华人地方食物便宜些 - 1 加园 = 3 马币，

UNESCO 联合国教科文组织的 world heritage 世界文化遗产

Zheng He (simplified Chinese: 郑和; traditional Chinese: 鄭和; pinyin: Zhèng Hé; Wade–Giles: Cheng Ho; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family, later adopted the conferred surname Zheng from Emperor Yongle. Zheng commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. His larger ships stretched 120 meters or more in length. These carried hundreds of sailors on four tiers of decks.

As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whose usurpation he assisted, Zheng rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing (the capital was later moved to Beijing by the Yongle Emperor). These voyages were long neglected in official Chinese histories but have become well known in China and abroad since the publication of Liang Qichao's Biography of Our Homeland's Great Navigator, Zheng He in 1904. A trilingual stele left by the navigator was discovered on the island of Ceylon shortly thereafter.

Getting there

1. Fly directly to Kuala Lumpur, then take bus to Melaka Central Bus station, then take a taxi to your hotel. Hotel should book in new town area. There are modern hotels and shopping malls in new town. Bus might have hotels drop off in the new town. Advantage-no border control needed, you are in Malaysia.

2. Fly to Singapore, then take bus to Melaka Sentral or Hotel area - there are many bus operators in Queens Street bus terminal. You can check bus schedule online and purchase tickets online. You have to do check-in at bus company booth. The price is higher from Singapore to Malacca, the returning bus price is about half. Disadvantage - you have to go through Singapore immigration station to do leaving the country, then do Malaysian immigration when you enter Malaysia border-you have to take your luggage with you for x-ray check out.