Priceless antiques on display at Shenzhen Museum

BEIJING, Dec. 26 --What to know how ancient

Chinese kept their food fresh before the refrigerator was invented?

It was kept inside the tong bing jian (literally

translated as "bronze ice box"), technology that can be dated back to around 300

B.C. in the Warring States Period. The ancient Chinese refrigerator, the first

of its kind in the world, was excavated in 1978 from a tomb in Sui County in

Hubei Province.

Or maybe you are interested in containers that

ancient people used to hold wines. The four goats quadripod, a bronze antique of

the Shang Dynasty (1066 B.C.-771 B.C.), will reveal that secret.

The quadripod is regarded as the greatest masterpiece

in China¨s bronzeware casting history.

These are among the 66 artifacts on exhibit to mark

the opening of the Shenzhen Museum¨s new venue at the Citizens¨ Center. The

exhibition will open Friday.

Other antiques include terra-cotta warriors from the

Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) and a jade burial suit, the ceremonial garb made

of pieces of jade in which some nobles of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D)

were buried. The ancient Chinese believed that jade had magical properties and

would prevent decay of the body.

The exhibition, the largest of its kind organized by

the National Museum of China outside Beijing, presents artifacts from ancient

China from the Neolithic Age to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The artifacts are a side exhibit of the museum¨s

newly opened zone that documents China¨s reform and opening up, which includes

1,000 exhibits, 1,200 photos and 120 historic documents relating the full story

of Shenzhen.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily)