Wubeiling, literally, the ridge at the back of houses, contains ancient tombs dating back to the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.).

Without a guide, it is difficult to find the 61-meter-tall ridge, where the tombs are hidden by a village and litchi forests.

Around one hour's drive from the Mazu temple, we finally found the tomb site, a small hill to the north of the village houses in Fuguang Village, Xili Township with our guide, Ruan from the temple.

"If you are afraid of dogs, be wary of them," Ruan said from behind, as we walked along the mud path leading to a litchi forest ahead.

"When we came to set up the stone tablet at Wubeiling in 2001, we were greeted by a pack of black dogs, which had frightened the archaeologists away," he said.

But we were greeted by just one, which barked at us from some distance away under a litchi tree.

When we reached the site, to my disappointment, the little hill seemed so ordinary, except for the stone table, erected by the Nanshan cultural heritage administration, showing the hill is protected by authorities.

"The small hill was famous in 2001, when it was selected as one of the nation's top 10 archaeological finds, but the tombs have been refilled after excavations in 2002," said Ruan.

From April to June 2001 and from December 2001 to March 2002, archaeologists discovered 94 ancient graves belonging to the Shang Dynasty and 300 assorted precious cultural relics.

The discovery was believed to be the largest set of Shang Dynasty tombs found in Guangdong Province. It filled a gap in the history of pottery of the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Half way to the top, two workers were painting protective wire netting. According to Ruan, though archaeologists have excavated around 1,400 square meters of tombs, there are still around 40,000 square meters to be excavated. The cost of the work, around 15 million yuan (US$1.9 million), is a headache for archaeologists.

Cultural relics unearthed from the ancient graves include jade articles, stone implements, pottery, as well as bronze tools. To help inform the public about the finds and Wubeiling's cultural heritage, the Nantou Ancient City Museum opened a special area for the relics on the second floor.

"The discovery, together with the discovery of the Xiantouling Neolithic remains at Dapeng, proved that ancient people lived in the Pearl River Delta areas around 4,000 years ago," said Zhang Yadong, head of the museum.

"Among the unearthed relics, the museum's best treasure is actually a stone knife, which had clear and beautiful patterns on it, demonstrating ancient people's exquisite stone carving skills," said Zhang.

Archaeologists had concluded that the reign and influence of the Shang Dynasty never passed the Yangtze River. But the discoveries in Wubeiling changed their minds. What were the similarities and differences of the life in southern China and northern China in the Shang Dynasty?

The discovery at Wubeiling showed the ancient people in the Pearl River Delta region made exchanges with the neighboring areas in Guangdong Province.

"Because of the shortage of funding, most of the relics in Wubeiling are still waiting to be excavated. If other tombs are unearthed, it could reveal the civilization and social progress in the Shang Dynasty, by comparing other Shang Dynasty tombs in Boluo, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and tombs in Dongguan City.

"Though the Wubeiling site is not big, we may find many tombs from the Shang Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty (221-206).

Because of land requisition for the construction of the University Town, some heritages of the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, so it is vital to protect the Wubeiling tombs, which are of great historical and archaeological value to the society," said Zhang.

Editor: Wing