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When we think of Chinese history, most often we think of the great monuments that we see in cities like Beijing and Xi’an: palaces, statues, temples and other relics. These are spectacular, but China is now discovering its maritime history, much of which lies underwater.

Just last week, China announced it would work with the Kenya government to explore and excavate shipwrecks that may have visited the Africa coast during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.). This is just one example of an unexplored side of Chinese history that only now is coming to light.

The Lion City — built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) but which enjoyed a heyday in the Ming Dynasty — disappeared beneath the Thousand Islands Lake in 1959, as the valley it occupied filled behind a newly-constructed hydroelectric dam, one of many built during China’s reconstruction that decade. The location was then promptly forgotten, and it slipped into memory and history.

In 2001, a search began for the site. Local recollections proved surprisingly inaccurate, until finally a bounce-dive strategy hit a pile of bricks, and the city was relocated.

Today, this rarely-dived site is a time capsule, protected from the ravages of the Cultural Revolution and changing economic times. Although still largely unexplored, the city has revealed some exceptional finds. A 10-20 foot city wall circles the site, with its north gate opening to welcome visitors, the wooden door that would have closed the city off still intact. Some intact homes lay nearby, single-story structures with some window and door frames still in place.

A short swim from the main gate is the area’s showpiece, a 25-foot tall imperial tablet, erected by the Qianlong emperor (1736-1795) to commemorate the fidelity of a young widow who never remarried. It is intricately carved and features numerous scenes of daily life — even for people who have lived in Beijing for years, it is difficult to find anything that resembles it, despite Beijing having the largest collection of such imperial structures anywhere in China.

There are also seen one and two-storey houses, with wooden staircases and banisters intact, and several homes with roof beams and tiles still in place. It is unparalleled as an underwater diving destination, and is almost completely unknown.

Diving depths start at the 75-80 foot level and go down to at least 150, depending on location and lake levels. There’s a thermocline at about 35 feet, after which light levels drop and temperatures go down into the 40s. The lake itself is about a two-hour drive southwest of the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, or about a five-hour drive southwest of Shanghai.

The Lion City is just one of three towns submerged by the construction of the dam near Chun’an. Another site in the lake left a temple on top of an island. What the regular visitors to that temple — who arrive by boat — don’t see is the staircase that pilgrims once took to the holy place, still winding down around the hill/island, with small pavilions still visible along the way. Join us all this week for more tales from China’s sea history.