Whoever thought the Western Xia period was dead and buried are in for a shock. For the last three years, archaeologists have been sorting through the rubble of some near millennium old burial sites. They're from the Western Xia Imperial Tomb area in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Burned by decades of battle fire, trampled by Mongolian cavalrymen, and eroded by nearly a 1,000 years of natural weathering, the tomb's original appearance is all gone. But hopes of recovering the past have risen since May 2000, when a team of historians started sorting out the 10,000 or so artifacts unearthed near the ruins of the No. 3 tomb.

Most of the finds are parts of the tomb-yard buildings featuring a Chinese traditional architectural style. There are signs of symmetry as well as elements of the Western Xia religion. The excavators have mapped out what they know so far about the burial site, but they have a more daring blueprint in mind.

Wang Yuexing, director of Western Xia Tombs Administration, said: "We're inviting more experts here to use the unearthed objects to reshape the models of the tomb buildings housed in the Western Xia Museum. We're also planning to build a replica of the No. 3 tomb near the ruins if it's possible."

The Dangxia ethnic minority established the kingdom in 1038 based around the capital, Yinchuan. There are altogether 9 emperors' grave-sites in the Western Xia Imperial Tomb Area. Each is an integrated architectural complex, covering more than 100,000 square meters. The sites' historical value and national significance have transformed the ruins into a top tourist attraction in Ningxia.

(CCTV.com August 22, 2003)