China's Sanxingdui Ruins to apply for UNESCO status

CHENGDU -- The legendary Sanxingdui Ruins in Southwest China's Sichuan province, together with the Jinsha Ruins in the provincial capital of Chengdu, will apply for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status, the provincial government said Friday.

The Sanxingdui Ruins, located in the city of Guanghan, are dubbed one of the greatest archeological finds of the 20th century. The site was accidentally discovered by a farmer when he was digging a ditch in the 1920s.

In 1986, a large number of unique relics were unearthed in the No 1 and No 2 pits, arousing global interest. In October 2019, archaeologists discovered six new sacrificial pits. More than 1,000 significant relics have been unearthed so far.

Luo Qiang, vice governor of Sichuan, said the construction of the Sanxingdui National Heritage Park and a new museum is being accelerated to make Sanxingdui a world-famous tourist destination.