Archaeologists have confirmed that they have discovered the site of an ancient palace of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) in north China's Shanxi Province.

The site was discovered in Datong, an industrial city in North China, which was the early Northern Wei capital for about 100 years and was called Pingcheng at the time.

"The location of Pingcheng palace was a mystery to archaeologists before the discovery of this site," said Zhang Qingjie, a research fellow with local archaeological institute.

After more than seven months of excavation, about 2,400 square meters were exposed, where a large terrace with steps, brick walls and a floor was unearthed.

Archaeologists also discovered construction materials, such as tiles, ridge decorations and different types of tile-ends, and porcelain relics from the Liao (916-1125), Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties.

"It is exciting that we have discovered a large number of tile-ends with various shapes and characters," said Zhang. "Characters such as Long Live the Emperor prove that the site had been used by the royalty."

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2003)