Just as there was a Silk Road overland there was a Maritime Silk Road. The Chinese do not have a reputation for great navigators and the story of how an emperor burned his entire fleet and decided to close the kingdom abroad weighs, but there was a route by sea that allowed the Chinese to have contact with the distant world.
This Maritime Silk Road It was born during the Han Dynasty (between 220 BC and 220 AD), mainly along the southern coast and on the current coasts of Shandong province. These areas have always been dedicated to the manufacture of ships and the production of silk, so it is believed that they had a lot to do with the maritime trade routes of the same.
It was Emperor Han Wudi who came into contact with him. Roman empire through India, opening the first oceanic route and the first maritime trade route in the entire world. Then China came into contact with other distant markets and its ships sailed the Indian Ocean, the South Sea and the waters of Southeast Asia. There was even a gift exchange between a Roman emperor and a Chinese emperor in Han Dynasty 166.
La Maritime Silk Road it continued its course in later years, during the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasty.
More information - Following the Silk Road