Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the Science and Technology Daily on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its founding.
Lying dormant beneath the ground in Xiyang county for over 3,800 years, the Zhongcun site has now been selected as one of China's "Top 10 New Archaeological Discoveries of 2025." Located in Jinzhong city, Shanxi province, it features the largest known single-chambered aristocratic tomb from the Xia Dynasty. Excavations have yielded rare artifacts from distant regions, including scallops from the Yellow and Bohai Seas, cinnabar from the Hunan-Guizhou area, and turquoise from the eastern Qinling Mountains. These discoveries fill a gap in Xia and Shang Dynasty archaeology on the western foothills of the Taihang Mountains and have revolutionized academic understanding of the hierarchical structure of Xia Dynasty tombs and the broader civilizational landscape.
