XINING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Construction has been completed on a museum on prehistoric disaster ruins in the northwestern province of Qinghai.
The heritage museum will open to the public on April 28, said Duo Xianying, official with a larger park construction project on the ruins.
Construction of the 102-hectare park at the Lajia heritage site began in July 2014, and is expected to cost 475 million yuan (about 73 million U.S. dollars). A museum and some other public facilities have been built in the park.
The entire park is expected to open to the public by October, said Duo.
The Lajia site, located in Minhe County, on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, was discovered in 1981. It is a 680,000-square-meter area formed by an earthquake and flood dating back 4,000 years.
The site is an example of Qijia Culture, which flourished in the transitional period between the Neolithic and Bronze ages, 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, according to archeologists. Skeletons, tools, and artifacts have been unearthed on the site.
Lajia is the only site of its kind in China, according to archeologists. It has been dubbed the "Oriental Pompeii," after the ancient Roman city destroyed by volcanic eruptions.
