An American guide for a Chinese museum

Long before smartphones and WeChat, Liangzhu's people were 'posting their moments' on pots, revealing the UNESCO Heritage place's rich and interesting past

The Liangzhu Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, houses a treasure trove of jade, lacquerware and myriad artifacts, but what has impressed Emma Chen, a volunteer there, the most is its black pottery collection, which sports unique symbols that some scholars think are inscriptions from another era. She passionately explains to visitors that long before smartphones, the Liangzhu people were possibly "posting their moments" on pottery like people today do on WeChat.

Located on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Liangzhu Museum, established in 2005, showcases the archaeological findings from the Liangzhu ruins.

What has caught Chen's attention the most is a ring-footed black pottery jar that bears 12 symbols. Some scholars feel it tells a story. "One version is that it says that a man caught a tiger with a net," Chen said. "There are many different explanations, but they were probably depicting specific scenes or events, inscribing on a pot what had happened earlier that day, the way people these days post moments on WeChat," she said.