Ancient port reveals its secrets

On the busy streets of Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan province), the imperial city of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang), the imperial city of the Southern Song Dynasty, many shops sold Wenzhou lacquerware, says Liang. Wu infers from this that the success of lacquerware was related to the developed level of shipbuilding at the time.

"There are many links between ship-making and lacquerware making. For example, the wooden offcuts from ship building could be used to make lacquerware, and the ships needed to be covered in hard, black varnish for fear of their wood rotting."

The artifacts were clearly made for trade, says Wu, as they show no trace of having been used. Moreover, most of the pieces found were broken, and losses perhaps incurred during storage or transportation.

Nine different kinds of docks have been unearthed. Some are believed to have belonged to the government, while others were probably for private use. The No 3 dock, which dates to the Southern Song period and which was rebuilt several times, is the most complete of them all.

"Following changes to the river bank, the dock was made longer and narrower to adapt to its new environment," says Liang.