More than 100 plant seeds dating back 2,000 years have been unearthed from an ancient tomb in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, archaeologists said.

According to the regional institute of archaeology, the discovery was made during the excavation of a civilian tomb, dating between the middle and late Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 25 A.D.) and early Eastern Han Dynasty (25 A.D. – 220 A.D.), in Dengkou County, western Inner Mongolia.

The half-moon-shaped seeds were found on the east side of the female tomb owner’s head. They gathered in a round shape with a diameter of eight centimeters.

They look like modern pomegranate seeds, but archaeologists have not concluded what they are.

A rusted bronze seal was also found in the same tomb.

Further 18 single-chamber brick tombs were also unearthed. Scattered among sand dunes, the tombs were not well preserved, with most of their tops being exposed to air.

Six people died and two were injured after a fire at a motorcycle repair shop in Zhangzhou city, eastern China’s Fujian Province, city authorities said Friday.

Flames broke out at the shop in Gaokeng village in Zhangzhou at 11 p.m. Thursday, Zhangzhou authorities said.

Two died on site and four in hospital. The two injured remain stable.

Four fire squadrons were called to put out the fire.

An investigation is underway.

A man found guilty of setting off a homemade bomb at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport last June has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

According to a verdict announced by the Shanghai No.3 Intermediate People’s Court on Friday, Zhou Xingbai was also deprived of his political rights for two years.

Zhou set off a homemade explosive device at a check-in counter at 2:26 p.m. on June 12, 2016. Four people, including a Philippine national, suffered minor injuries. A number of flights were cancelled or delayed due to the incident.

Zhou also cut his own throat with a knife at the airport but was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

The 29-year-old from southwest China’s Guizhou Province became a migrant worker in 2006 after finishing middle school.

He has allegedly been addicted to online gambling since 2014, squandering his savings and living in heavy debt. On his WeChat account, he wrote that he owed many people money and was going to do something “very crazy.”

Zhou has no mental illness and should take full criminal responsibility for his actions, according to the Institute of Forensic Science under the Ministry of Justice.

Prosecutors in eastern China’s Zhejiang and Shandong Provinces are investigating recent hospital malpractice that caused infections, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Friday.

The procuratorate said that it had been closely watching the latest developments in the investigation and asked for early intervention by local prosecuting departments to help police objectively collect evidence.

In early February, five people were found infected with HIV after a technician at Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital reused pipettes on separate patients, according to Zhejiang provincial health and family planning commission.

In Shandong, a total of nine patients were infected by hepatitis B in January after medical staff at the hospital’s hemodialysis unit were negligent.

The the archaeological site of the capital of the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century-16th century BC) in Erlitou in Henan Province in central China.  [lyrb.com]

A museum and a park will be built on the ruins of the capital of the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century-16th century BC), China’s earliest dynasty, local cultural heritage authorities said on Thursday.

“Construction of the project will start in the first half of the year near the village of Erlitou in the city of Luoyang where more than 40,000 square meters of the ruins have been excavated since 1959,” said Yu Jie, head of the city’s cultural heritage bureau.

Citing a plan passed by the provincial government, Yu said that the museum, with a planned building area of 30,000 square meters, will showcase about 40,000 items, such as excavated antiques, text and graphic documents related to the early dynasties, including the Xia and Shang (c. 16th century-11th century BC).

The most famous piece unearthed there is a 70-centimeter-long dragon formed from more than 2,000 pieces of turquoise. Chinese archaeologists dubbed the artifact the “Dragon of China”, saying it was the earliest evidence of Chinese infatuation with dragons.

A cultural ruins park covering 41 hectares will also be built. It will protect and display the sites of the ancient city walls, palace and roads, as well as handicraft workshops of bronze casting and turquoise, and the sacrifice venue of the ruins.

“The park will also simulate scenes from more than 3,000 years ago by landscaping and building workshops based on the discoveries,” Yu said.