12 July 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

Britain’s Hidden Treasures: The Pieces of Rare Iron Age Helmet Found at Snettisham

19 January 2025

19 January 2025

Thanks to advanced scientific testing, the copper alloy fragments unearthed at Snettisham, Norfolk, at one of Britain’s most significant archaeological...

1,400-year-old coins found in a piggy bank in ancient city of Hadrianopolis

3 January 2024

3 January 2024

Archaeologists unearthed a collection of 10 coins believed to date back nearly 1,400 years, retrieved from what appears to be...

Poseidon’s Trident Discovered in Lake İznik

4 May 2025

4 May 2025

The depths of Lake İznik have yielded a discovery of profound significance, instantly captivating historians and archaeologists. The recent recovery...

Researchers decipher enigmatic ancient ‘Unknown Kushan Script’

13 July 2023

13 July 2023

A research team at the University of Cologne’s Department of Linguistics deciphered a writing system belonging to the Kushan Empire,...

Archaeologists discover one of the largest Phallus Relief Carving of ancient Rome

28 August 2022

28 August 2022

According to an announcement by the region’s local history museum, a large Roman-era relief carving of a phallus has been...

A 3300-year-old seal and a dagger/sword reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were discovered in the Heart of western Anatolia

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

A unique 3300-year-old seal and a sword/dagger reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were unearthed during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı...

Archaeologists identified the first known tomb of a Warrior Woman with weapons in Hungary

5 January 2025

5 January 2025

A team of archaeologists led by Balázs Tihanyi of the Department of Biological Anthropology and the Department of Archaeology at...

Rock tombs dating back 1,800 years have been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Blaundus

1 October 2021

1 October 2021

In the ancient city of Blaundus, located in the Ulubey neighborhood of the western Anatolian city of Uşak, 400 rock-cut...

Birkleyn Caves is “the Place Where The World Ends”

18 January 2025

18 January 2025

The Birkleyn Caves were known as “the place where the world ends” and as “the place where the water of...

Roman-era chambers and clay offering vessels found in Antiocheia Ancient City, in southern Turkey

24 October 2022

24 October 2022

During excavations in southern Turkey’s ancient city of Antiocheia, archaeologists discovered late Roman-era chambers and clay offering vessels. Antakya, better...

China’s ancient water pipes show people mastered complex engineering 4,000 years ago without the need for a centralized state authority

16 August 2023

16 August 2023

A system of ancient ceramic water pipes, the oldest ever unearthed in China, shows that neolithic people were capable of...

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 inner wall was reached during the excavations of the tomb of the poet Aratos in the Soli Pompeiopolis Ancient City

13 August 2021

13 August 2021

The inner wall was reached during the excavations of the tomb of Aratos, the famous poet and astronomer of the...

Researchers Found Evidence in Ethiopia of a Human Population that Survived the Eruption of the Toba Supervolcano 74,000 Years Ago

22 March 2024

22 March 2024

Researchers working in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula have uncovered evidence showing how Middle Stone...

The ruins of a thousand-year-old Buddhist Temple will be opened to the public in Kyrgyzstan

13 September 2022

13 September 2022

The unearthed remains of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kyrgyzstan will open to the public in mid-September as part of...