With a display of 4,000 artifacts, the newly expanded Yinxu Museum in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province houses invaluable historical relics from the archaeological site of Yin Ruins, testifying to the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences during the Shang Dynasty dating back to more than 3,000 years.

Located near the archaeological site of Yin Ruins, which is the location of the last capital of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), the museum is the first national major archaeological museum to comprehensively present the Shang civilization. It officially opened to the public on Monday and has an exhibition area spanning 22,000 square meters, with the exhibits ranging from bronze wares and pottery pieces to jade artifacts and oracle bones.

The Yin Ruins is the first documented late Shang Dynasty capital site in China, as confirmed by archaeological excavations and oracle bone inscriptions. It is also the ancient capital site with the highest frequency of archaeological excavations and the longest duration of exploration in China, with excavation beginning in 1928. Over the past seven decades, more than a million pieces of cultural relics have been unearthed there.

In 2006, the Yin Ruins was added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

At the sprawling museum, the large number and superb craftsmanship of burial items found in the unearthed royal tombs and palaces bear testimony to the advanced level of the crafts industry in the Shang Dynasty.

Featured prominently at the museum are the inscribed oracle bones. Considered the origin of the Chinese characters and representing the oldest fully-developed system of characters, the inscriptions retain evidence of the Chinese written language from 3,000 years ago, helping to extend recorded Chinese history to nearly 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.

"This piece of inscribed oracle bone is the most famous one of its kind because of its unparalleled status. It is a broken piece of an ox's shoulder blade, containing 11 inscriptions written in 93 words, which mainly foretold weather the Emperor would suffer misfortune while he went hunting," Xu Xiaying, a docent at the museum, introduced to China Global Television Network (CGTN).

Also being highlighted are the relics of horse-drawn chariots, with the design of double wheels and brakes showing the mechanical innovation of the Chinese people in that era.

"In the middle of the exhibition hall is the 23 sets of horse-drawn chariots unearthed from the Yin Ruins. They represent the earlier specimen of real-life horse-drawn chariots and demonstrates the superb mechanical skills of the Shang Dynasty," said Xu.

Additionally, the museum features an immersive digital exhibition, which fully utilizes technologies such as artificial intelligence and multimedia resources to present artifacts, documents, and oracle bone inscriptions in innovative ways.

"The new museum panoramically displays the achievements of the Shang Dynasty in politics, economy, military, culture, Chinese characters, construction of capital cities, agriculture, and handicraft industry," said Zhao Qingrong, deputy curator of the Yinxu Museum.