Museum will preserve site of 'earliest China'

The construction of a museum on a cultural heritage site with more than 3,500 years of history, often referred to as "the earliest China", began on Sunday in the city of Luoyang in central Henan province.

The Erlitou site, named after its surrounding village, was discovered in 1959 and was later found to be the site of a capital of the Xia Dynasty (21st century to 16th century BC).

"Cultural relics connect the past, present and the future. They are witnesses of Chinese civilization, which has a long history yet keeps its vitality," Premier Li Keqiang, who once visited the relics when he worked in Henan, said in a congratulatory letter for the groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday.