via Global Times, 04 May 2023: The Maritime Silk Road Museum of Guangdong, China’s first museum dedicated to underwater archaeology, is home to the world’s oldest, most-complete shipwreck of an ancient oceangoing trading vessel, known as the Nanhai No.1, and tells the story of the Maritime Silk Road that began 800 years ago, with visitors able to observe archaeologists excavating the ship from the mud and sand that encloses parts of it, alongside artefacts recovered from the site.
Despite being more than 17,500 square meters in size, the Maritime Silk Road Museum of Guangdong (MSRMG) in Yangjiang, South China’s Guangdong Province, is not famous for its grandeur, but its uniqueness, as it is China’s first museum focused on underwater archaeology.
While the first foundation stone for the MSRMG was laid in 2004, the venue only entered the limelight three years later due to a momentous event in China’s underwater archaeological history – the salvaging of a Song Dynasty (960-1279) shipwreck discovered off the coast of Yangjiang in 1987. The museum has become the home of the ancient ship, now known as the Nanhai No.1, and continues to tell the story of the Maritime Silk Road that began 800 years ago.
Unlike many other Chinese museums that feature a variety of relics, the MSRMG is dedicated to Nanhai No.1 culture, museum expert Li Yiyang told the Global Times.
Source: Nanhai No.1 museum explores history of Maritime Silk Road – Global Times
