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300-year-old tomb discovered

BEIJING: Workers at the U.S. embassy in Beijing were surprised to discover China had had someone on the inside -- for the past 300 years.

Labourers laying foundations for a new annex unearthed a 300-year-old tomb containing a skeleton, three coins and a jar with a rare green polish, said Wang Qinglin, an archaeologist at the Beijing Culture and Heritage Preservation Bureau.

U.S. embassy officials said they notified Beijing authorities of the discovery and Wang was called in to excavate the site.

Preliminary examinations showed the skeleton was a woman of between 35 and 45 years old, who was buried in the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911), probably during the 1662-1722 reign of Emperor Kang Xi, Wang said.

"The tomb has been damaged by the construction work and the skeleton has been scattered around and is not in its original place," said Wang. "There is no whole body."-Reuters