Shenzhen has long been known as a pioneer city for the country's reform and opening-up policies to the outside world, rather than for its history. But the cultural relics discovered over the years have proven the city has a long history, said an official of the municipal cultural relic management office surnamed Lai.

"For years, Shenzhen has been regarded as a new city booming from a small fishing town. It's not true. The city's written history can be traced back to A.D. 331 when it was a county named Bao'an in China's Jin Dynasty," Lai said, adding that the cultural relics unearthed in Shenzhen included those from the New Stone Age as well as bronze wares and ceramic pieces from 3,000 years ago.

Following a census on the cultural relics throughout the city in 2000, as many as 151 sites have been given protection at various levels.

On the protection list, the ancient Dapeng Fortress, built in the Pengcheng Village, Dapeng Township, eastern Shenzhen in 1394, is the only State-protected historical site in the city. It is now considered as an important and the best-preserved ancient city for military use along the country's southeast coastal areas.

The city government would invest more than 50 million yuan (US$6 million) in the protection of the Dapeng Fortress this year, Lai said.

The discoveries at Wubeiling in Xili, Nanshan District, which included ceramic pieces and tumulus and architecture relics dating back to Shang Dynasty, was designated one of the top 10 archeological findings in the country in 2002.

Shenzhen's indigenous Hakka people built their homesteads as tight circles to create sturdy defenses, said Lai.

Dubbed architecture marvels, the old Hakka-style residences in Shenzhen were mainly scattered in Longgang District with their occupying areas ranging from 4,000 to more than 20,000 square meters.

The cultural relic census also found a watchtower cluster in Guanlan, Bao'an District. The watchtower cluster in Guanlan was similar to the Kaiping watchtower cluster in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, already a national historical relic.

"It's time for the city to balance the rapid economic development with protection of historical relics," said Lai.
 

Editor: Catherine