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Five hundred metres north of Yuexiu Park's Jiefang Bei Lu entrance is the looming red sandstone facade of the Nanyue Tomb , housing a two-thousand-year-old site discovered in 1983 during foundation digging for a residential estate (9.30am-5.30pm, last admission 4.45pm; Y10). The museum really deserves a couple of hours of your time, and the ticket price entitles you to watch a video in good English and tour the mass of exhibits, though it's an extra Y5 to enter the tomb itself. Bus #5 passes the museum. The Nanyue Kingdom was founded by Zhao Tuo , a Qin general from Hebei Province who was ordered down here in 214 BC to subjugate China's unruly southern tribes. Following the collapse of the Qin empire, Zhao, backed by half a million troops, declared himself head of an independent state. Having replaced the Qin, the new Han rulers grudgingly acknowledged his position and even granted him the title of "Emperor Wu" during his 67-year reign. But by the time of his grandson Zhao Mo , whose tomb this is, the empire was in decline, and, within a century, the Han had sacked his capital and reclaimed the territory for central China. Remains of the Nanyue palace were excavated south of Guangzhou in the early twentieth century, a layer of ashes confirming the account of its destruction given by Sima Qian, the Han-dynasty historian. Zhao Mo made a better job of his tomb than running his kingdom, and excavators found it stacked with gold and priceless trinkets - all on view in the museum - including a burial suit made out of over a thousand tiny jade tiles, and the ash-like remains of slaves and concubines immured with him. It's all fascinating and expertly presented, particularly worthwhile if you plan to visit contemporary grave sites in Changsha or Xi'an. Incidentally, Zhao Tuo's tomb still awaits discovery, though rumours of its fabulous treasures had eager excavators turning Guangzhou inside out as long ago as the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD)
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