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With the building of a new highway, the ancient capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) in north China's Hebei province has resumed its quietness after its disappearance over 600 years ago.
To better protect the site's cultural relics, the local government has invested 13 million yuan (approximately US$1.55 million) to divert a section of the Zhangbei-Huade highway which formerly passed through the capital.
The ancient capital, located in the current Zhangbei county, some 300 km to the northwest of Beijing, was first built in 1307 and ruined some 50 years later. With the passage of time and the lack of historical records, the once booming city sank into oblivion.
The Zhangbei-Huade highway, linking north China's Hebei province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was constructed through the site in 1978.
Two decades later, China's cultural relics departments launched archeological researches at the site and unearthed a large number of precious relics and outlined the basic shape of the capital. The site was listed in 1999 as one of the top ten archeological discoveries of the year. And in 2001, it was put under state-levelprotection.
The four-km-long new road bypasses the site. The local government also plans to restore the ancient capital to its traditional shape, followed by the building of a 67-ha open air museum.
(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2003)
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