South China's Guangdong Province is set to salvage an ancient boat which sank near Yangjiang City located in the western part of the province during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), with work beginning within the first half of this year.

A special task force, consisting of archaeologists and relic experts from Guangdong Province and the central government, has been set up to take responsibility for the project.

Preparation work for the salvage project, which is being called Nanhai No 1, is already well underway, Cao Chunliang, director of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Culture, said yesterday.

The salvage of Nanhai No 1 is a significant archaeological expedition for China.

According to Cao, historical relic experts have said the value and impact of recovering Nanhai No 1 will be even greater than that of the terracotta warriors in Xi'an of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The wooden vessel, which is still in good condition after sinking more than 1,000 years ago, reaches lengths as long as 30 meters and widths as wide as 10 meters.

It is estimated to contain between 60,000 and 80,000 valuable cultural relics.

Further, the vessel remains firmly intact, being covered by 2 meters of silt, according to archaeologists.

Guangdong provincial government alone has earmarked more than 2 million yuan (US$241,000) for the salvage of Nanhai No 1.

Nanhai No 1, which is believed to be the largest and most well-preserved ancient vessel discovered to date, is a marvel of world navigation history and experts are urging that the entire vessel be recovered.

It will be of great value to the study of ancient Chinese ship building and navigation technologies, experts said.

Nanhai No 1 was discovered and named in the 1980s and archaeologists have so far removed 4,000 valuable historical relics from only one small hold of the ship in March of 2002.

Most of the cultural relics are ancient ceramics and porcelain products produced in East China's Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces during the Song Dynasty.

Nanhai No 1 is believed to be a merchant vessel that sank while traveling to the Middle East region of the globe.

Zheng Youjian, vice-mayor of Yangjiang, said the Guangdong provincial government has decided to invest more than 200 million yuan (US$24.1 million) to build the China Marine Silk Road Museum in Hailing Island in Yangjiang after the vessel is salvaged.

The new museum is expected to cover an area of more than 120,000 square meters, upgrading Guangdong's cultural industry and promoting tourism.

In addition to the vessel, all the cultural relics from Nanhai No 1 are to remain in Yangjiang and be displayed in the museum, said Zheng.

As a starting point of China's marine silk road, more than 1,000 ancient sunken vessels are estimated to be hidden under the waters in and around Guangdong.

Nanhai No 1 is expected to help prosperous Guangdong, which has long been dubbed 'a cultural desert,' develop its culture and history.

(China Daily March 20, 2003)