After an arduous 10-year-planning process, an exciting expedition has awakened the memory of an ancient Chinese city in the Zhejiang province. Qiandao Lake houses a city submerged under 30 meters of water from the Xi'an jingo reservoir.
The expedition was initiated by the Chun'an county government back in 2002. Experts from the State Marine Institute created a sonar map of the city, formally referred to as Shicheng, and the local government actually set up a museum based on that map.
The elite team of researchers suspects that Schicheng was part of the Eastern Han Dynasty, dating all the way back to 25 (to 220) CE.
CCTV is taking that process one step further by championing an underwater live broadcasting of "Lion City" – its informal name – a city that essentially “disappeared” after major flooding in the 1950s.
According to the sonar scan, the city is the size of approximately 62 football fields and Lion City's walls stretch 2 meters high over 2.5 kilometers of landmass.
Directly adjacent to the city is the “five lion mountain” along with exquisite lion statues guarding the city's entrance. Latest diving reports indicate that the statues are in surprisingly decent shape despite being trapped under water for all these years.“The area’s structure defied the Chinese norm when it was given five gates instead of four. The gates and the walls are a combination of aesthetics, defenses, and Fengshui elements.”
The city also harbors spacious streets with small lanes throughout the entire city. Ornate archways were strategically designed in order to honor the Confucian values. Memorial archways – experts say the city houses at least 18 of them – feature images reminding viewers of the societal importance of loyalty and chastity. Additionally, the city includes ten hidden temples and 13 ancestral halls.
As divers engaded in the early stages of an epic journey earlier this month, they focused on the city's western entrance, a gate which is believed to have been some sort of schoolhouse back in the city's Golden Age.
But don't let me spoil everything for you! Soon enough, you can embark on the journey yourself via the broadcast of divers more fully exploring the buried treasures within the ancient Han city.
The camera crew has received special training at a Qingdao naval school in order to most effectively prepare for any unforeseen events that may take place during the expedition.
In the meantime, take a look at a simulation in this CCTV News clip:
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