The archeological site of Yinxu, located in Anyang city in central China's Henan Province, is a UNESCO world heritage site that houses the ruins of the ancient Chinese capital city of Yin. The architectural remains and artifacts unearthed there are testimony to an early Chinese civilization. CGTN's Xu Mengqi takes us on a dive into the ancient Chinese history.

XU MENGQI YINXU, HENAN PROVINCE "You might have heard that ancient China, along with Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India, is one of the 4 cradles of the world's earliest civilizations, and where we're now at, is quite literally the beginning of recorded Chinese history.

Around 150,000 pieces of turtle shells and livestock bones, also known as oracle bones, were unearthed here at the archeological site of Yin Xu. The inscriptions on the bones form the earliest known established Chinese writing system, helping to track documented Chinese history to 1,300 BC. With dozens of palace and shrine foundations restored and hundreds more awaiting excavation, the traces of an early civilization are evident here.

Also an important archeological discovery at Yin Xu: a myriad of bronze vessels, which were proof that the ancient Shang culture was already quite developed in the craft of bronze casting. And this ritual bronze work excavated here, weighing 875 kilograms, is the largest bronze vessel so far discovered in the world.

The Shang people used oracle bones mainly for divination purposes. By drilling holes on the shell and burning them with charcoal, they predict their future from the cracks of the shell and today the oracle bones have become essential materials for study of the Shang dynasty and the early Chinese civilization. XMQ, reporting for CGTN, in Yinxu, Henan province."