Legendary Port of the Maritime Silk Routes: Zayton (Quanzhou) is a book of Asian premodern maritime history from global perspectives. The book is targeted at learners and students of China study in the field of literature relating to the knowledge of premodern maritime history and cultural exchange among South Fujian in coastal China, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and beyond connected with Maritime Silk Trade Routes.

The Silk Roads are an exceptional example of a cultural route that covers many elements of heritage, both tangible and intangible. The inscription on the World Heritage List of this unique property, which bears testimony to over two millennia of human history, required an innovative approach and a new cross-border methodology. To this day, it remains a best practice for the World Heritage Committee when it comes to serial transnational nominations.

There are many species of wild silkworm distributed in various places across the globe. Whilst there are historical records of the use of wild silkworms for the collection of silk in Ancient Greece and the Indian Subcontinent, the unique nature of Chinese silk is that it was derived from domesticated silk worms. It is from these origins in sericulture that the Silk Roads gets its name.