Three 200-year-old fire engines have been discovered in Foshan City of south China's Guangdong Province, a local official said on Saturday.

The three non-automation engines were found in Longjiang, a town in Shunde District of Foshan, and currently kept in a local museum. It is rare for one locality to home three similar engines dated back to the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), said Liang Jinde, director of the Shunde District Cultural Museum.

The fire engines were made of iron, red wood and bronze in 1806.The largest one is 1.6 meters in length and weighs 500 kilograms.

Longjiang used to be known for its firework-manufacturing industry in the Qing Dynasty. In order to fight fire, local residents pooled their money to purchase the three engines from Guangzhou, now the capital of Guangdong Province, and used them for more than 100 years, according to Zhang Yequan, a 80-year-old local resident.

The water streams sprayed from the engine can reach about ten meters, said Zhang, who helped to find the three ancient fire engines.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2004)