B: Welcome back to Listeners Garden here on CRI. Now it's time again for our listeners' knowledge contest on southwestern China's Sichuan province.

A: Today, on the second leg of our trip to Sichuan, we'll visit a mysterious place called Sanxingdui, the capital of an ancient kingdom 5,000 years ago.

B: You should keep these two questions in mind as you listen.

A: Question number one: How long did peak period of the ancient kingdom at the Sanxingdui site last?
And question number two: Which artifacts excavated at Sanxingdui are most representative of the level of craftsmanship at that time, jade or bronze wares?

B: Are you ready? Let's follow our tour guide Yun Feng.

The current Sanxingdui, or Three Star Mound, used to be called Three Star Village. No one back then would have ever imagined that this ordinary place could be recognized as one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. But in the spring of 1929, a farmer found a piece of bright-colored jade while he was digging a ditch. That was the first clue leading to the discovery of a mysterious ancient kingdom, which enjoyed a peak period lasting about 2,000 years. The Sanxingdui ruins are the location of the capital of the ancient Shu kingdom that thrived during the Shang Dynasty some three to five thousand years ago.

Sanxingdui is an hour's drive from Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu. Amid the once-tranquil village, a museum has been built and named after Sanxingdui. One of the narrators at the museum, Qiu Xueqing, tells us the Sanxingdui relics are located at 30 degrees north latitude. This location as well as the content of the discoveries at Sanxingdui are of great archeological significance.

"At the same latitude, there is also Mt. Everest, the ancient Maya civilization, and the Bermuda Triangle. All of them have one thing in common--mystery. So far, the Sanxingdui Relics still speak of the most culturally diversified ancient capital and kingdom, boasting the largest number of relics and longest existence in southwest China."

According to archeological findings, the settlement at Sanxingdui was abandoned suddenly around 1,000 BC. For reasons that are still unknown, the prime of Sanxingdui Culture came to an abrupt end.

The discovery of the Jinsha ruins in the outskirts of Chengdu has offered important revelations to researchers of Sanxingdui. The relics discovered in these two different places are of surprisingly similar styles.

The Jinsha remains, some 500 to 1,000 years younger than the Sanxingdui relics, are largely believed among scholars to indicate a continuation of the Sanxingdui culture. Some guess that the ancient capital had been relocated from Sanxingdui to the Jinsha area. However, there are differing theories as to why Sanxingdui was abandoned, including floods, invasion, and plagues. But the actual reason remains a mystery because of the lack of historical records.