Archaeologists have discovered a 800-year-old city in Benxi City, northeastern Liaoning province, approximately 660 meters above sea level and covering about 520,000 square meters, local government said on Thursday.

The city was built into a flat area in Pingding Mountain, said Liang Zhilong, deputy director of the city museum. He told Xinhua News Agency that archaeologists discovered the ruins during a recent research expedition.

Not much of the city remains, apart from some stone walls and a house, Liang said, adding that although they can confirm that the city was built some time between the Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan dynasties (1279-1368), they cannot confirm who actually built the city or who lived there.

"The city designers were so ingenious that they used the cliffs as a natural defense and filled the cliff cracks with stone," Liang said.

The 657-meter-high Pingding Mountain, which has a flat top, is located in the southern part of Benxi's urban areas.

According to history records, the mountain was used as a military base in the Yuan and Ming dynasties (1368-1644).

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2005)