Archaeologists have spent months excavating a lost temple that disappeared for nearly a millennium in downtown Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The Fugan Temple was a famous temple that lasted from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

Daoxuan, a famous Tang Dynasty (618-907) monk, once wrote that an official rite to pray for rain to end a persistent drought was held in front of the temple, and it rained as if the prayers had been heard in heaven.

The story was the record of how the temple got its name, Fugan, which means “perceive the blessing.”

Famous Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi left a poem to commemorate the temple’s renovation, describing its heavenly appearance. The poem further noted the temple’s important role at that time.

However, the building was worn down during the later period of the Tang and Song dynasties, with all traces of the temple disappearing during wars.

Archaeologists unearthed more than 1,000 tablets inscribed with Buddhist scriptures and over 500 pieces of stone sculpture as well as glazed tiles with inscriptions.

“We have only excavated a part of the temple’s area, but already have a glimpse of its past glory,” said Yi Li, who led the excavation project.

He said they have found the temple’s foundation, ruins of surrounding buildings, wells, roads and ditches.

During the excavation, archaeologists found some 80 ancient tombs scattered near the temple, dating back to Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600-256 BC). In the temple’s surroundings, they have unearthed large amounts of household tools and utensils and building materials dating back to various periods from the Song to Ming dynasties.

Chengdu became an economic and cultural center in western China during the Sui and Tang dynasties. The temple’s discovery could greatly contribute to the study of the spread of Buddhism in China during that time, said Wang Yi, director of the Chengdu Cultural Relic Research Institute.

A China shipbuilding firm on Saturday delivered the world’s first semi-submersible aquaculture support vessel to Norwegian fish farming company SalMar ASA.

The Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co. Ltd. of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation delivered the vessel at its dock in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong Province.

The vessel, 110 meters in diameter and 69 meters in total height, weighs 7,700 tonnes and can resist powerful typhoons of up to 36 meters per second in speed. It can accommodate water for farming 1.5 million fish while maintaining a death rate of less than 2 percent.

SalMar is one of the world’s largest companies for producing and processing salmon.

Yan Jun, deputy chief engineer of Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co. Ltd., said the vessel is the world’s first fully automated aquaculture support vessel. Its smart aquaculture system can release fish fry and perform feeding, environmental monitoring, cleaning and removal of dead fish.

The ship maker signed a contract in April with SalMar to add another five of the smart aquaculture support vessels.