The unique, grotesque bronze works at the booth of the Sanxingdui Ancient Ruins attracted a large number of visitors on the first day.

The Sanxingdui Culture and Tourism Development Company Limited displayed replicas of typical cultural relics with detailed information of the tourist areas of the Sanxingdui Ancient Ruins.

A replica of one of the relics unearthed in Sanxingdui is a sculpture of a huge head with protruding eyes and huge ears. Most of the relics on display are body or head sculptures with a peculiar features. The sculptures are thought to be images of ancestors representing persons in different generations or different tribes in the ancient Shu State (now in Sichuan Province). Some people also believe they may be images of extraterrestrials. Some of the bronzeware unearthened is believed to be from the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.) but some Sanxingdui artefacts remain a mystery.

Lu Xianhao, sales manager of the company, said: "In order to protect Sanxingdui Ancient Ruins and various cultural relics effectively, they are now seeking more investors for a project with a total investment of 2 billion yuan. We are widely planting protective plants and setting up protective dams for scientific and reasonable protection."

The Sanxingdui Ruins are 40 kilometers north of Chengdu in Sichuan Province.

(Shenzhen Daily November 19, 2004)