BRI guests visit the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Deyang city, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on October 22, 2023. Photo: Zhang Yuying/GT

Foreign guests from participating countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) spoke high of Chinese cultural relics, after they paid a visit to the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Deyang, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Sunday. The guests, who are also representatives of the first Silk Road Global News Awards winners, agreed on promoting cultural exchanges in future cooperation.

Discovered in the late 1920s, the Sanxingdui site was considered as the largest ancient kingdom site from the pre-Qin period in Southwest China.

In 1986 and 2019, a total of eight sacrificial pits were discovered at Sanxingdui. They held nearly 20,000 precious cultural relics, making the site one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in modern times.

The discovery of Sanxingdui stands as a prominent manifestation of the diverse, inclusive, innovative, and creative nature of Chinese civilization, and occupies a significant position in the history of world bronze civilization.

"I am really amazed. It made me think that there were people who were so smart that they could make wonderful things that we nowadays do not understand how to make," Yolaidy Martinez, former Chief Correspondent in China for Prensa Latina News from Cuba, told the Global Times on Sunday. "I'm very glad to see objects from ancient times," she said.

Besides this, Martinez mentioned that she noticed there were a lot of people and families, including small children, coming to the museum together to enjoy this journey of history. "I'm very glad to see that," she said.

Nurzhan Kasmalieva, Head of the international department at the Kabar News Agency in Kyrgyzstan, shared a similar view. "We saw many people visiting the museum. It means that many people are interested in history, and not only local people, a lot of foreigners as well," she told the Global Times.

Additionally, the BRI guests agreed on promoting cultural exchanges in future cooperation.

Kasmalieva said that China and Kyrgyzstan are good neighbors, and have some similarities in traditions and customs. On this basis, Kasmalieva said exchange cooperation between both countries in the field of culture should be strengthened.

Branko Zujovic, a Serbian journalist from Pecat Weekly, told the Global Times that if countries explored more similarities in their cultures, then they can get to know each other better. "We should work on that and make progress in that field," he said.

Potteries of Sanxingdui, including storage vessels, tablewares, drinking vessels, and cooking utensils. Photo: Zhang Yuying/GT

BRI guests touch the jade raw material displayed in the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Deyang city, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on October 22, 2023. Photo: Zhang Yuying/GT