The moment you clasp your eyes on them, it's difficult not to grasp that they're from the same planet as us, but with their big eyes, thin lips, and pierced jug ears, they look light-years away from the ordinary inhabitants of today's world, as if their solemn, otherworldly faces are staring back at you across an immense gulf of space as well as time.

(Cover: A bronze figure statue unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN)