Traveling the world in the 15th and early 16th centuries, I, Liliana Aline Palmeiro, was sent on a mission by King Kramer of Portugal as a Portuguese business manager to go to the Ottoman Empire, India, China and Japan to investigate their government systems, culture and religions to determine if any of them are a good place for conquer or create a commercial alliance. During the missions, I was unable to reveal my identity as a Portuguese sales manager, so I pretended to be Sister Veronica Maria. When I arrived in the Indian Ocean, my eyes could not believe what they saw. Trade routes were established all around the Indian Ocean as a sort of treasure map leading to treasure, except that trade routes did not lead to a single treasure, but rather from one treasure to another. Established trade in East Africa, the West Indies and the Middle East was controlled by the Arabs. Entering the Indian Ocean, I saw that Kilwa, an island off the east coast of Africa, was one of the ports on the Indian Ocean trade route where merchants imported and exported luxury products between China and India. Imported trade products ranged from jewelry, porcelain, textiles and glassware, while goods from the Zambezi River included coconuts, ivory, gold and copper (http:// www.indianoceanhistory.org/). Among other Arab trading ports, Aden was an ancient but important port where trade between Africa, Asia and Europe continued continuously due to its port location on the Red Sea and the South Sea. 'Oman. Calicut, where I landed with Vasco da Gama after finding a naval route that bypassed southern Africa to take us to the Indian Ocean. Reaching the country of Cali...... middle of paper ......h is a periodic payment from one state to another, to the Ming Court. When a tribute commission arrived in China, the group was tasked with sending a member and a cargo to the imperial court where periodic payment was made. Any remaining cargo could be sold to Chinese government officials or native individuals. Besides the fact that trade was driven by tributaries, overseas trade and all communication with foreigners was strongly prohibited and essentially illegal. Coastal Chinese residents were prohibited from sailing abroad, but foreigners were also not allowed to arrive in China, except for tribute missions. However, since the emergence of smuggling, the government has imposed new bans over the years. Since the continuing ban revealed that smuggling persisted, Chinese private seafarers have been withdrawn from foreign trade..