Nanjing Dragon Treasure Boat Develop Co., Ltd (DTB) is a Sino-Malaysian joint venture incorporated by Gulou District Government, Nanjing, China and Dragon Group of Malaysia. It was established in October 24th 2005. The Mission of the Company is: “Excavating and constructing the Zhenghe Treasure Boat as core business; replicating and building wooden sail boats and motor-driven wooden sail boats used by Zhenghe ocean fleet, including: 1000-Liao sailing boats, 400-Liao official boats, big and small size eight-oar express wooden boats, modern wooden motor boats and variety of wooden yachts”. After completing the construction of Zhenghe Treasure Boat and successful voyages along Zhenghe ocean exploration routes, we will be well positioned to take orders for building customized ancient style wooden sailing boats and manufacturing special and large wooden structures for restoring the ancient Chinese architecture, such as temples and pavilions, on demand.

Building work on the landscape shipyard of DTB has been formally started in the early June of 2006. The landscape shipyard lies in the longshore belt of Yangtse river in the south of Treasure Boat Relic Park, with an approximate length of 80m, a width of 24m, and a height of 21.5m. Compared with common shipyards manufacturing steel ships, the operational environment of wooden boat yard is much stricter, the former can be operated in the open, but wood processing and shipbuilding construction must be carried out in a close workshop. The center of the shipyard is shipway, and crafts working chambers for manufacturing parts such as sails and outfitting are situated on both sides of the shipyard. A circular corridor has been designed around the shipyard, After the completion of the rudiment of the main body, the landscape shipyard will be opened to the public, then tourists can enjoy the scene of the shipbuilding from the circular corridor .

The Zhenghe Treasure Boat archaising styte of Ming dynasty with a total length of 71.1m, beam of 14.05m and molded depth of 5.7m will be more than 12m longer than the Swedish ship Gotheborg. The construction work of the ship pays special attention to the selection of the wood. Wood like teak and balau with characteristics of resistance to tensile force and marine microbes and saltworthy in the sea are prefered, and such timber is native from Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, etc, so most of the wood for the treasure boat must be imported. Currently, the company undertaking the designing work is specilizing the blue print of the treasure boat, and the designing work is to be finished in the late July of 2006.

As an integral part of the shipyard, we are building a viewing platform for tourists to observe the actual shipbuilding process, enlighten their interests in learning ancient wooden boat techniques and visualize the working scenery of the ancient Chinese craftsmen. Surrounding the shipyard, the tourists can enjoy the landscape of humanities, Ming-style gardens and waterfront culture. It will be the most beautiful waterfront tourist spot in town.

（Note: According to the research of domestic and overseas experts, Zhenghe’s fleet contained several kinds of ships, including treasure ships for carrying silk and porcelain; warships for fighting back pirates; horse ships for shipping horses and other livestock; food ships for carrying supplies and water ships for loading fresh water, etc. Passing and inheriting the ancient civilization, each boat of Zhenghe’s fleet is considered to be a gem of the nation, so all the boats of Zhenghe’s fleet are generally called Zhenghe Treasure Boat.）