BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- Shanghai plans to build a museum on the remains of a Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) flood-control system for a river that was once a main waterway to the East China Sea.

    Shanghai officials said Wednesday the museum, which is expected to open in 2010, would rival the museum for the terracotta warriors in Shaanxi Province.

    The site was uncovered by construction workers in May 2001 at the corner of Zhidan Road and Yanchang Road of Shanghai city.

    With a total area of 1,600 square meters, the ruins are the largest example of a Yuan Dynasty flood-control system ever found and deserve to be preserved, officials said.

    "It is the most important archaeological discovery in the city's downtown," said Zhai Yang, an official with the Shanghai Cultural Relics Management Commission, yesterday.

    "It will be the downtown's first museum about an original archaeological discovery, similar to the famed museum of the terracotta warriors," he said.

    Since the site was discovered, archaeologists have been working to excavate the structure and artifacts in the ruins.

    So far they have found more than 10,000 wooden pegs, 400 stone boards and some wooden pillars carved with ancient Chinese characters describing the river-control works.

    The centerpiece of the site is a stone gate almost seven meters wide. It has two stone pillars, each bearing a groove.

    The ruins are close to the former course of the Wusong River, which used to be a major waterway to the East China Sea. Over the years, silting changed the course of the river, and it is now known as Suzhou Creek.

    According to historical records from Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), central and local governments spent huge sums of money on dredging the Wusong River and building water-control systems.

    This makes the ruins of great significance for studying changes in river courses, construction of water-control facilities and the development of shipping in Shanghai.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)