Check it out now.
Still doesn't track, unless I'm thinking of the wrong place as the Cape of Good Hope, which is located near Cape Town, South Africa, at the far southern tip of Africa.
Med to Suez exits on the Indian Ocean side of Africa via the Gulf of Aden. Why travel down the eastern coast of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope to the Atlantic side and then go back to China via the Indian Ocean?
I'm thinking the original source was mistaken and was incorrectly referring to the easternmost point in Somalia, the transition from the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean, as the Cape of Good Hope. Closest I can find to a name for this point is Cape Guardafui.
Is there another point referred to as the Cape of Good Hope other than the area off of Cape Town, South Africa?
Oh, in case I didn't mention it, great site.