The Erlitou Relic Museum, which exhibits the history of ancient China's first recorded dynasty of Xia (2070-1600 BC), officially opened in Luoyang City, central China's Henan Province on Oct. 19, 2019.

Covering an area of 32,000 square meters and at a cost of 630 million yuan ($89 million), the museum displays over 2,000 cultural relics, including bronze ware, pottery and jade ware. Many precious cultural relics are being exhibited for the first time.

The archaeology team works on the site of the Erlitou Relics. The Erlitou Relics date back 3,500 to 3,800 years in ancient China's late Xia or early Shang (1600-1046 BC) dynasties.

People look at pottery at the museum. Discovered in 1959 in Luoyang by historian Xu Xusheng, Erlitou was identified by Chinese archaeologists as the relics of the capital city of the middle and late Xia Dynasty.

The most famous piece unearthed there is a 70 cm-long turquoise dragon, formed by more than 2,000 pieces of turquoise. Chinese archaeologists dubbed the artifact the "Dragon of China," saying it was the earliest proof of the Chinese infatuation with dragons. It represents the earliest dragon totem in China.

The bone hair clasp from the Xia Dynasty. (Photos: People’s Daily/Shi Yiqi and VCG, compiled by Wang Zi)