Yinxu Ruins

Located in Anyang, Henan province, the 3,300-year-old ruins of the last capital city of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th-11th century BC) elevated the dynasty from a legend into actual history through a rich reservoir of relics. It is globally famous as the home of the oracle bone inscriptions, the oldest-known, fully developed Chinese writing system whose lineage is the same as the Chinese characters used today.

When visiting the site in 2022, Xi noted that the Chinese characters are extraordinary and serve to tie together the development of the Chinese nation, and he praised the archaeologists for doing a great job in this regard. He said that more archaeological research efforts should be made to carry forward the project of tracing the origins of the Chinese civilization.