Submerged Chinese City of Shicheng/Social Media Documentation under Section 27A of the Copyright Law
It sounds like the craziest attraction we could think of: visiting a real old town that is well preserved underwater. The submerged city of Xincheng is 600 years old and overlooked in 1959, when it now sits 40 meters below the surface of a huge lake in China. Tourists divers regularly explore the well-preserved stonework and walls – but it's really not recommended for tourists to pop in for a visit, just yet.
Xicheng, dubbed the "Atlantis of the East," was frozen in time after it was deliberately flooded by the Chinese government in 1959 to make way for a hydroelectric dam. Nearly 300,000 people were evacuated from their homes to build Qiandou Lake, some of whom had families who had lived in the city for centuries. After the residents left, they left behind memories of a lifetime, which according to the BBC includes architecture linking the city to the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Conflicting accounts suggest that this submerged wonder was established during the Han dynasty between AD 25 and 200 AD or during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). However, experts concluded that the city prospered during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 to 1912). The city was rediscovered in 2001 after an expedition was launched to find out the fate of the sunken metropolis, about 400km south of Shanghai.
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Xicheng remains in its near-perfect state due to being submerged in fresh water – and it opened to the public in 2017. The lack of oxygen and sun erosion means that stone statues of various animals, including lions, dragons and phoenixes, are still perfectly preserved in the city's wide streets, some of which date from 1777. The city, which covers about half a square kilometer has five entrances - an unusual feature, since similar sites traditionally had four entrances aligned according to cardinal directions.
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Many parts of the city have yet to be discovered, but interest in it peaked again in 2011 when photos and illustrations of the city as it had previously been seen were published by the Chinese National Geography.
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Experienced divers from all over the world are now flocking to China's Zhejiang Province to see the city, also called the "Lion City" because it is so close to Wuxi Mountain, or Five Lions Mountain. However, if you have a keen interest in exploration and want to dive in the Chinese lake, make sure you know what you are doing, because diving in the lake is only allowed to people with extensive experience diving in deep water night conditions. MSN reports that access to people without sufficient diving knowledge is limited and that the site is considered unsafe for tourists because it is not yet fully mapped.
Despite the challenges posed by its current condition, it is hoped that the growing interest in this site will contribute to its preservation and allow future generations to explore the quiet but very living remains of Xicheng.
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