Officials have said recently that some archaeologists will unveil the ruins of a 2,000-year-old city on the ancient Silk Road in Tumushuke City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The so-called Tangwang City dates back between Han and Tang dynasties. It used to be a thriving city on the ancient Silk Road, bordering the Taklamakan Desert.

Some renowned people, such as Zhang Qian, a royal envoy of China's Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) and Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to India, in search of sacred scriptures, have left their footprints on this historically important trade route.

The city also used to be known as a center of Buddhism. French sinologist Paul Pelliot excavated the ruins of two Buddhist temples here in 1906, and unearthed more than 400 pieces of cultural relics, which are on display in France now.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service