A new museum and park will be developed on the ruins of the capital of the Xia dynasty in central China, Xinhua reports.
Located near the modern day city of Luoyang, Henan province, the new project will feature a 41-hectare park showcasing the ancient city's ruins, and a 30,000m² museum to display the artefacts that have been unearthed from the site. The most famous exhibit will be a 70cm-long turquoise dragon.
“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 metres of the ruins have been excavated since 1959,” Yu Jie, head of Luoyang's cultural heritage bureau was quoted saying.
He added that the park will “simulate scenes from over 3,000 years ago”.
The Xia dynasty existed in central China between 2,100 and 1,600BC. The city of Luoyang is already a popular tourist destination in China; it is home to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Longmen Grottoes, which house thousands of pieces of ancient Chinese Buddhist art.
