Chinanews, Guangzhou, January 17 – The salvage of the famous shipwreck, Nanhai-1, now has entered the countdown phase, it being to be officially started in March 2007.

 

Guangdong provincial government has set up a salvage HQ, with Lei Yulan, the vice governor of Guangdong Porvince, as its director.

 

Nanhai-1 is a shipwreck of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), which was discovered in 1986. Last year, 30 million yuan was allocated by the Ministry of Finance to support the salvage of Nanhai-1 (only lower than the allocation for the refurbishment of the Potala Palace in Tibet), in addition to the local government contribution of 60 million yuan.

 

Archaeologists found 4,000 pieces of precious cultural relics in a small cabin of about 1 sq m from March to May in 2002, and greater discoveries that even might rival the Qin Dynasty Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an of Shaanxi Province are expected from the salvage.