17 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

800-year-old Jin dynasty palace complex found in Beijing Olympic Village

While building the athletes’ Olympic Village for this year’s Winter Games in Beijing, China found the remains of an ancient Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) palace.

Residents of Taizicheng village in Zhangjiakou City in northern China’s Hebei province, have always believed that the name of their village, meaning village of the crown prince, relates to the settlement’s royal roots, according to the China Daily. And research justified them.

Less than an hour from Beijing by high-speed rail, Taizicheng is one of three districts hosting the competition, along with central Beijing and the Yanqing suburb. (The majority of the ski and snowboarding events will take place in Zhangjiakou.)

Cultural relics on exhibition at the Taizicheng site include a bronze sitting dragon.
Cultural relics on exhibition at the Taizicheng site include a bronze sitting dragon. Photo: China Daily

Archaeologists have known about the ancient Chinese palace at Taizicheng since the 1970s, which comprised remnants from the Liao (916-1125 AD) and Jin (1115-1234 AD) dynasties. However, significant investigation work at Taizicheng began in 2017, after China won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, to guarantee that nothing of historical significance was harmed during the construction of the Olympic village there.

The archaeological team proposed that the Olympic village, which was supposed to take up three-quarters of the Taizicheng ruins according to the original design, be relocated after the scale and historical significance of the site was revealed. It was finally built east of the site and across the road from the ruins.

Cultural relics on exhibition at the Taizicheng site include a chiwen, or imperial roof decoration.
Cultural relics on exhibition at the Taizicheng site include a chiwen, or imperial roof decoration.

Talking to the Global Times, Zhang Wenrui, dean of Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that the discovery of the palace came as a “big surprise” for Chinese archaeologists who were not prepared for the grand nature of the discovery.

Huang Xin, head of the site’s archaeology team and the deputy dean of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology told the Global Times that the team exploring the ruins initially believed that they were just some old and worthless buildings. However, they soon began uncovering priceless ceramics and building materials, as well as telltale architectural features.

Archaeological studies show the Taizicheng site is a rectangular area of 14.3 hectares. Buildings at the site are distributed along a central axis and show the layout of working areas in the front and living areas in the rear, which is a tradition for imperial palaces.

The extensive remains they discovered included 72 building foundations and 14 roads, apart from moats and city walls. White-glazed Ding-ware porcelain, portions of dragon head sculptures, and other ceramics were also found.

Some jade decorations on the exhibition show people’s activities, like hunting geese and deer, and taming gyrfalcon, an important totem of nomadic hunting.

The Taizicheng ruins in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, known as the Olympic village discovery of 2022. ( Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology )
The Taizicheng ruins in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, are known as the Olympic village discovery of 2022. ( Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology )

The nomadic groups in northern China have a long history of taming falcons, especially gyrfalcons. Many cultural relics and murals in tombs show patterns of this animal, usually with its wings spread and sharp claws aimed toward the ground.

What makes the discovery even more significant is that this is the first Jin dynasty palace complex to ever have been unearthed.

Archaeological research shows the site, was a temporary summer residence called Taihe Palace (later renamed Qingning Palace) built by Emperor Zhangzong of the Jin Dynasty in 1202. Zhangzong was the sixth emperor in the middle and late period of Jin, and during his reign, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) started to rise.

The ancient palace opened to the public as an archaeological park in 2021, and some of the valuable artifacts found at the site are on display in an exhibition hall that opened on 31 December 2021.

Cover photo: A jade decoration with a gyrfalcon pattern among the cultural relics on display at the Taizicheng site.

Related Articles

Recent excavations reveal the complete water conservancy system of the nearly 5000-year-old Liangzhu Ruins

26 November 2024

26 November 2024

In recent excavations around the Liangzhu Ruins in east China’s Zhejiang Province, researchers have discovered about 20 ancient dams. Seven...

1,500-year-old baptistery found in Kadı Castle-Anaia Mound in western Turkey

3 December 2021

3 December 2021

A baptistery, estimated to have been built in the 5th century AD, was unearthed in the Kadı Castle-Anaia Mound in...

1300-year-old baby footprints found in excavations at the ancient city of Assos in western Turkey

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

1300 years ago, a baby stepped on baked bricks prepared to make a bread baking oven. The baby was probably...

Little Known Powerful Kingdom of History’s “Mitanni Kingdom”

3 February 2021

3 February 2021

Hurrians; They became a state organization with a warrior and ruling class of Indo-Aryan origin who came from North-West Mesopotamia...

Portugal’s Enigmatic Roman Building “Tower of Centum Cellas”

4 February 2024

4 February 2024

The Tower of Centum Cellas (also known as the “Tower of St. Cornelius”), located in the Mount of Santo Antão...

3,000-year-old Drill Bit Workshop Unearthed in Vietnam’s

13 May 2021

13 May 2021

According to the provincial museum, an ancient drill bit workshop dating back more than 3,000 years has been discovered at...

The free online course from the Colchester Museums and University of Reading Department of Archeology

12 July 2021

12 July 2021

The opportunity to be among the first to examine 2,000-year-old cremated remains from Roman Britain and learn about the origins...

Excavations in Poland uncover Goth graves filled with ornate jewellery

17 August 2023

17 August 2023

A 2,000-year-old Goth burial site filled with ancient jewels has been discovered in Wda Landscape Park (Wdecki Park Krajobrazowy) near...

4,000-year-old War Memorial of Banat-Bazi in Syria

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Archaeologists have identified a memorial monument built before 2300 BC in the Banat-Bazi region in Syria. Known as the “White...

A Unique 2000-Year-Old Oil Lamp Found in Israel

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a rare 2,000-year-old oil lamp in David, Jerusalem. Archaeologists have discovered a rare oil lamp, shaped like...

The first time in Anatolia, a legionnaires’ cemetery belonging to the Roman Empire unearthed

18 November 2022

18 November 2022

In the ancient city of Satala, in the Kelkit district of Gümüşhane in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey,...

Remains of Norman Stone Tower Defending Chichester Castle Discovered

5 June 2025

5 June 2025

A remarkable archaeological excavation in Chichester’s historic Priory Park has uncovered the remains of a Norman-era stone tower, known as...

Scientists may have discovered pieces of the Asteroid that caused the extinction of the Dinosaurs

14 May 2022

14 May 2022

Scientists are piecing together remnants of the day the extinction of the dinosaurs began. A tiny fragment of the asteroid...

New Study Finds, 4,000-Year-Old Toolkit Unearthed Near Stonehenge Was Used to Work Gold

16 December 2022

16 December 2022

Archaeologists from the Universities of Leicester and Southampton in the United Kingdom recently published a study claiming that enigmatic artifacts...

1,400-year-old temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings discovered at Suffolk royal settlement

21 November 2023

21 November 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered a possibly pre-Christian temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings at Rendlesham, near Sutton Hoo...