
The Chengdu Sports Center, a giant stadium at the heart of the provincial capital of southwest China’s Sichuan, housed group matches of the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Many international stars including Mariah Carey and Avril Lavigne performed for their Chinese fans here.
Until 2013, an upgrade and renovation revealed relics dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) up to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) right underneath the middle of the venue. It created a surreal but unforgettable view—surrounded by the now still intact seats and roofs of the stadium, the middle of the former field has become a grand excavation(发掘) site, exposing ancient city walls, streets and canals, houses and gardens, and a palace for kings in the Ming Dynasty, as well as ceramics, coins, and iron and bronze items.
After nine years of excavation, the Donghuamen historical site opened to a selected group of local residents on Sunday. The Chengdu Culture & Tourism Development Group invited around 20 families with small children to visit the site, still under excavation. Archaeologists and scholars were on site to introduce the findings.
“The Donghuamen site has been through 21 dynasties, with relics dating back 2,000 years,” said Shan Jixiang, the former curator of the Palace Museum. Spanning(横跨) 50,000 square meters, the site proves Chengdu’s city site has remained in the same place for over 3,000 years, which is rare in the world. “It’s a unique archaeological finding,” said Shan.
The Donghuamen site is an important part of the submission to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites of ShuDao, the ancient mountain road system connecting Central and mountainous Southwest China for more than 2,300 years. “Donghuamen has the potential to fill a blank of core cities of China on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List,” said Shan.
An archaeological park is under construction at the site, the first phase of which will make it public next year, before the Universiade to be held in Chengdu in July, 2023.
本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写,未经书面授权,禁止复制和任何商业用途,版权所有,侵权必究!(作者投稿及时文阅读定制请联系微信:18980471698)