Digging up a gateway to history

An ancient walled city recently unearthed in Dongguan, Guangdong province, offers further proof that the metropolis, located at the mouth of the Pearl River, was an important coastal defense town and node on the ancient Maritime Silk Road during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Cao Jing, director of the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that the walled city, which is over 600 years old, covers an area of more than 3,000 square meters, and many artifacts have been found on the site, which is located in urban Dongguan.

It is among the largest single archaeological project in Guangdong in recent years.