Sunken ship slowly yields her secrets

GUANGZHOU - Archeologists on Thursday began to retrieve and clean relics from a second cabin of the sunken merchant vessel Nan'ao No 1 in South China's Guangdong province.

Sun Jian, director of the salvage team from the National Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Center, said more than 2,000 items had already been recovered from another cabin, including porcelain plates, mugs, vases, plates, bowls and other small dishes, as well as metal pots and weapons.

As the ship slowly yields her secrets, on Wednesday some blue porcelain plates bearing people's images were brought to the surface for the first time.