The site of the earliest and largest city of the Shu people in China's south-western province of Sichuan is to be opened as a tourist attraction.
     Located near present-day Guanghan city on the Chengdu Plain, Sanxingdui covers an area of 12 square kilometres. To display the ruins to locals and tourists, a 6 square kilometre park is being developed in the Sanxingdui Ancient Ruins International Cultural Tourism Zone by the Sanxingdui Cultural Tourism Co., Ltd at a cost of 400 million yuan (around 48.36 million US dollars).
     Archaeologists have uncovered city walls up to a height of 6 metres, sacrificial pits, ruins of residences, tombs, jade and stone pits and bronze ware such as large masks and figurines. The size of the walls seems to support the legend that Sanxingdui was the capital of the ancient Shu Kingdom, which existed from around 2800 BCE to 800 BCE.
     The park, which will allow visitors to see the ruins and finds, try their hand at archaeology, and attend religious and sacrificial ceremonies performed by the Shu people, is expected to open by the end of the year.

Source: People's Daily (1 March 2004)