Retired teacher determined to find 'sunken city'

Among the 20 primary and middle school students who had gathered for a free weekend English class recently in Xichang, Southwest China's Sichuan province, sat 63-year-old Hu Bigui.

"I'm learning English so I can find out if there are foreigners interested in unraveling the mystery of an ancient city hidden in Qionghai Lake," explains Hu, a retired teacher of the Xichang Railway Vocational School.

In 2008, it was widely reported that a city of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) might lie submerged in Qionghai Lake, in Xichang, better known as the nation's satellite launch center.