Central China to build museum, park on ruins of ancient capital

ZHENGZHOU -- A museum and a park will be built on the ruins of the capital of the Xia Dynasty (2100 - 1600 BC), China's earliest dynasty, local cultural heritage authorities said Thursday.

"Construction of the project will start in the first half of the year near the village of Erlitou in the city of Luoyang, where over 40,000 square meters of the ruins have been excavated since 1959," said Yu Jie, head of the city's cultural heritage bureau.

Citing a plan passed by the provincial government, Yu said that the museum, with a planned building area of 30,000 square meters, will showcase around 40,000 items, such as excavated antiques, text and graphic documents related to the early dynasties, including the Xia and Shang (1600-1046 BC).

The most famous piece unearthed there is a 70-cm-long turquoise dragon, formed from more than 2,000 pieces of turquoise. Chinese archaeologists dubbed the artifact the "Dragon of China," saying it was the earliest evidence of the Chinese infatuation with dragons.

A cultural ruins park covering 613 mu (41 hectares) will also be built. It will protect and display the sites of the ancient city walls, palace, roads, as well as handcraft workshops of bronze casting and turquoise, and the sacrifice venue of the ruins.

"The park will also simulate scenes from over 3,000 years ago by landscaping and building workshops based on the discoveries," Yu said.

Yu did not disclose the cost of the project.