The skipper of The Princess Taiping, a visiting Chinese junk, will give a public lecture on the replica sailing vessel at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Hawaii Maritime Center, Pier 7 in Honolulu Harbor.

Skipper Liu Ning-sheng Liu will talk about the 54-foot replica of a Ming Dynasty junk The talk is free to Bishop Museum members and $5 for everyone else.

The Princess Taiping, which is on a return voyage from the United States to Taiwan, arrived Dec. 21 at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor. It is open for public tours.

Junks are efficient, sturdy ships that traveled across the ocean as early as the second century A.D. They incorporated numerous sail plan and hull designs that were later adopted in Western ships.

The Hawaii Maritime Center features 50 exhibits portraying Hawaii's maritime history. For more information go to http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/hmc/hmc.html or call 599-3810.