A dragon-head architecture component of the Southern Han Dynasty. Photos Provided to China Daily

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Portraits of fortune

Central Plain, or Zhongyuan, refers to the area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River that is believed to have formed the cradle of Chinese civilization. On the contrary, the Lingnan area used to be called the "southern barbarian land".

"If you look carefully, you will discover that the communication between Lingnan and Central Plain can be dated back to at least 3,000 years," Chow says. "For instance, we can infer it from the archeological finds in Hong Kong of pottery tripods during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), which was common in Han culture in Central Plain, that Han culture had been already introduced into the Lingnan area almost 2,000 years ago.

"The exhibition can correct people's stereotype that Lingnan was a 'southern barbarian land', with the exhibits of daily tools and handicrafts showcasing the ancient civilization in Lingnan," he adds.

The Hong Kong curator compares archeology to playing jigsaw, piecing relics together to represent the history for the public. It is a time and effort-consuming project. The exhibition's fourth section exposes visitors to the advanced techniques in archeology.

"Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao are leading the country in the field of underwater archeological technology," Wei Jun, curator of Guangdong Museum, says when pointing to the state-of-the-art equipment in the cabinet.