Heritage park on prehistoric ruins starts trial operation

A heritage park built on China's only prehistoric ruins of disasters in the northwestern province of Qinghai opens to the public for free starting from May 1.

Lajia heritage site, located in Minhe county, on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, was discovered in 1981. At 680,000 square meters, it was formed by an earthquake and flood dating back 4,000 years.

By May 3, the park had received more than 94,561 tourists. The museum of the park with an exhibition themed on the ruins also opens to the public for free.

Archeologists said Lajia is the only site of its kind in China, and it has been dubbed the Oriental Pompeii, an ancient Roman city destroyed by volcanic eruptions. Skeletons, tools and homeware have been unearthed on the site.

The Lajia site is of great significance to the study of the prehistoric civilization 4,000 years ago, providing a new subject for interdisciplinary research on environmental archaeology, according to experts.