Local residents in Xiaotun village of Anyang City, central China's Henan Province, have moved out of their homes to make way for better protection of the city's 3,300-year-old capital ruins.
The move is aimed at restoring the original look of the birthplace of the ancient Yinxu Culture.
The cultural heritage authorities in Anyang have constructed the Yinxu Ruins Museum at the base of an ancient palace, renovated the Fuhao Tomb, which was an important building for the Yinxu Culture, and built Yinling Museum near the tombs of emperors of the Shang Dynasty (about 16th-11th century BC).
The city government has marked nearly 210,000 square meters for preservation in Xiaotun Village, where unearthed preserved bones and shells with ancient inscriptions are now on the World Heritage list.
All residents living in that area were asked to move away to enable a museum and a park featuring the Yinxu Culture to be built.
Pian Xiuru, a former villager whose family has moved to the municipal stadium in the downtown Anyang, said though she was not happy to leave the land where her ancestors had stayed for centuries, she feels happy her contribution has helped to attract more people to know about the ruins.
After archaeologists unearthed bones and tortoise shells with ancient inscriptions 102 years ago in Anyang, the city has become a center for the study of ancient Chinese civilization.
According to statistics, Anyang has preserved more than 150,000bones and shells with ancient inscriptions, nearly 10,000 bronze articles, 54 palace ruins and other heritage sites.
(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2002)
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