BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The following are highlights of China's key archaeological news from the past week:

-- China's largest ancient distillery ruins

Chinese archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient distillery, the largest of its kind ever found in the country. The distillery dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and it was discovered by construction workers by accident in Suixi County, eastern China's Anhui Province.

Archaeologists have excavated 3,000 out of a total area of 18,000 square meters, unearthing a series of facilities used for making distilled spirits in ancient times, such as three distillation stoves and more than 30 fermenting tanks.

-- Ancient Buddhist murals

Some Buddhist murals dating back to the Yuan and Ming dynasties (1206-1644) were recently discovered in a cave in northern China's Shanxi Province. The murals were found by a local photographer in an abandoned cave, located in Sanjiao Village in Jishan County.

The murals depicted Buddha statues, dragons and phoenixes, peonies and lotus flowers. Personnel have been dispatched to patrol the area and protect the murals.

-- Ancient Chinese irrigation projects

A 2,200-year-old irrigation project in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and another one in eastern China's Jiangxi Province have been declared World Heritage Irrigation Structures.

The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River to irrigate more than 680,000 hectares of land since the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). The Qianjinbei Irrigation System, located in the city of Fuzhou, dates back more than 1,200 years. Enditem

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