Shulama, who noted that the draft in Chinese junk ships were too deep to enter the Euphrates, forcing them to land passengers and cargo ashore on smaller boats. A small branch of this extensive second trade route led all the way to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, East Africa. In his work written between 785 and 805, he described the sea route going into the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and that the medieval Iranians (whom he called the people of Luo-He-Yi) had erected 'ornamental pillars' in the sea with torches on it at night that acted as lighthouse beacons for ships that might go astray. Confirming Jia's reports about lighthouses in the Persian Gulf, Arabic writers a century after Jia wrote of the same structures, writers such as al-Mas'udi and al-Muqaddasi. Notes References Liu, Pean. (1991). 'Viewing Chinese ancient navigation and shipbuilding through Zheng He's ocean expeditions', Proceedings of the International Sailing Ships Conference in Shanghai. Liu Xu et al., Old Book of Tang, vol. 138. Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. Ouyang Xiu et al., New Book of Tang, vol. 166. Schafer, Edward H. (1963). The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A study of T’ang Exotics. University of California Press. Berkeley and Los Angeles. 1st paperback edition: 1985. . Sima Guang et al., Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 228, 230, 232, 234, 235, 236. 730 births 805 deaths Writers from Hebei 8th-century geographers 9th-century geographers Chancellors under Emperor Dezong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Shunzong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Xianzong of Tang Chinese cartographers Medieval Chinese geographers Politicians from Cangzhou Scientists from Hebei Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shannan West Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shannan East Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Yicheng Circuit Tang dynasty generals from Hebei Tang dynasty politicians from Hebei Tang dynasty writers 9th-century cartographers 8th-century cartographers