Panlongcheng National Archaeological Site Park

Panlongcheng National Archaeological Site Park
盘龙城国家考古遗址公园

Address: 1 Panlong Avenue, Panlongcheng Economic Development Zone, Huangpi district, Wuhan city, Hubei province
Hours: 9 am -5 pm (Last entry at 4 pm)
Closed Mondays
General admission: Admission is not charged by limited reservation
Tel: (+86-27) 61915773/61915876

The Panlongcheng site is located in Huangpi district, Wuhan city, Hubei province. It is a city site dating back to the early Shang Dynasty of China (c.16th century-11th century BC). It has the largest scale, clearest layout, and richest archaeological discoveries of any site in the Yangtze River valley. It was a regional center of the early Bronze civilization along the Yangtze River and laid the foundations for Wuhan city. It was named one of China's 100 major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

The site covers 3.95 square kilometers, and the key protection area is 1.39 sq km. Its ruins include central palaces, building bases, aristocratic tombs and handicraft workshops. More than 3,000 exquisite cultural relics have been unearthed, such as a large jade dagger-axe (ge), a large bronze tripod cauldron (ding), a large bronze battle-axe (yue), and a set of turquoise ornaments inlaid with gold flakes. These are all of high historical, scientific and artistic value.

Studies based on these findings show that the vast area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River entered the Bronze Age in different ways, due to the influence and stimulation of Panlongcheng. For this reason, the Panlongcheng site serves as a key to people's understanding of the Bronze Age in the mid Yangtze River valley, as well as an important site of human cultural heritage.

The core area of the Panlongcheng National Archaeological Site Park was completed and opened to the public at the end of 2018.The park includes protected original sites, archaeological interaction areas, recreational areas, and the Panlongcheng Site Museum.