Fragments of porcelain adorn the bathroom of a small hostel in the town of Lamu, set in an archipelago of Kenya in the Indian Ocean.

They suggest an oriental influence most are blue and white, reminiscent of Chinese craftsmanship.

Such artefacts are found in many places around the islands. They are used to adorn the walls and roofs of houses, the doorways of prayer recesses and in the mihrab found in mosques, on pillars and in dome-shaped tombs.

"Lamu was the storage for ancient Chinese porcelain in the 15th century," said Herman Kiriama, director of the nautical archaeology department of the Kenya National Museum. Chinese sailors are thought to have brought the porcelain with them in the 15th century.

The Lamu Islands, lying to the north of Kenya, are rich in history. In the hub of the Indian Ocean, the islands were one of the key points Zheng He's fleet passed on the way to Africa, according to Chinese historical records.

Not only did they leave their vases and plates on the islands, but also their offspring. That's according to a report by Nicholas D. Kristof published on June 6, 1999, in The New York Times. Kristof was told the tale by local villagers.

Countless generations ago, they said, Chinese sailors traded with local African kings. The dignitaries gave them giraffes to take back to China.

One of the Chinese ships struck rocks off the eastern coast of Pate and the sailors swam ashore, carrying with them porcelain and other goods from the ship. In time they married local women, converted to Islam and named the village Shanga, after Shanghai.

The first Chinese to convert to Islam was Famau, and from him came the name Wafamau, which in local dialect was translated as Wafamayi, meaning dying in water. He established the Famau clan.

Later, fighting erupted among Pate's clans. Shanga was destroyed and the Famau fled, some to the mainland, others to the village of Siyu.

Researchers have turned up other equally tantalizing clues as to what happened when the Chinese landed. Craftsmen on Pate and the other islands of Lamu practise a kind of basket weaving that is common in southern China but unknown on the Kenyan mainland. On Pate, drums are more often played in the Chinese than the African style, and the local dialect has a few words that may be Chinese in origin.

More startling, in 1569 a Portuguese priest named Monclaro wrote that Pate had a flourishing silk industry. "Elders in several villages on Pate confirmed to me that their island had produced silk until about half a century ago," wrote Kristof.

Evidence on show in Lamu's museums indicates the Chinese introduced stone buildings, which are still found in the old Shanga town. Remains of stone mosques, houses, tombs and pillars are still standing.

The Siyu village on Pate island is home to 2,300 people, according to the village chief Bwana Ahmedi Maka. Among them, there are still about 30 people who are believed to be the offspring of the Chinese sailors.

Without any written records, these people, most of whom have much lighter skin than Kenyan mainlanders, passed on their heritage through the oral tradition.

Since she was a child, Mwamaka Shariff Lali, 19, from Siyu, has known she is a descendent of a Chinese sailor. She is travelling to China to attend events marking the first voyage of Zheng He, who later brought her ancestors to Lamu.

Many families have kept ancient Chinese porcelain as part of their family heritage.

According to director Kiriama, among 40 ruined sites discovered in Kenya, Lamu is one of the most important places where many examples of ancient Chinese porcelain have been unearthed.

During the past few years, local fishermen have netted exquisite porcelain and pottery, on which either Chinese characters or dragon patterns are carved. Archaeologists and historians from Kenya presume these treasures must have originated on the wreck of a legendary capsized Chinese ship, lying deep on the seafloor.

"It still remains a mystery whether those Chinese descendants are offspring of Zheng He's sailors or of later Chinese sailors," Kiriama said.

The Kenya National Museum hopes to work with its Chinese counterparts, first exploring the ruins and tombs of the Chinese village on Pate with the latest technology. The Kenyan authorities also expect to invite Chinese archaeologists to study fragments of artefacts and to mount a salvage operation to recover the shipwreck.