SAFEGUARDING THE TREASURE: Chinese military men protect salvaged relics from Nan'ao 1 day and night (CFP)	BIG DISCOVERY: Archaeologists clean up porcelain ware excavated from Nan'ao 1 on May 17, 2010 (LONG CHENGTONG)

Destination

The excavation hasn't produced evidence to suggest the destination of the ship. But judging by the fact porcelain ware produced in Pinghe constituted a majority of the cargo aboard, archaeologists said it did not look as if Nan'ao 1 was sailing to Europe.

"Chinese porcelain ware exported to Europe was mainly produced in the imperial kiln of Jingdezhen, which was noted for its excellent workmanship," Chen said. "The exported porcelain products were made according to designs provided by buyers, as most of them were to be used by royalty and nobility,"

The shapes, designs and decorative style of the excavated porcelain, including the figure of a lady and the Chinese character, yu, which means jade, revealed a strong flavor of Confucian culture, said Chen during China Central Television's live broadcast of the underwater archaeological operation on May 16, 2010.

"From these traces perhaps we can draw a bold inference that the ship's destination was Southeastern Asia, Japan or Korea, areas that had been deeply influenced by Confucian culture," she said.

Archaeological value

Sun Jian, the leader of the salvage team and a research fellow of the National Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Center of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, said from the perspective of archaeology, the wreck itself was as important as its precious cargo. To date, very few sunken ships from the period have been found. The salvage of Nan'ao 1 would help scholars to learn the dynasty's shipbuilding and navigation technologies.

Particularly, it will provide useful clues to the structure of the giant oceangoing flotilla led by Zheng He (1371-1433), who made diplomatic voyages to what the Chinese term the "Western Seas" (areas in Southeastern Asia and along the coast of the Indian Ocean, west of today's Brunei).

The excavation of the relics in Nan'ao 1 is reminiscent of the raising of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) ship Nanhai 1 at the end of 2007. At a cost of 300 million yuan ($439,000), the 5,000-ton wreck, including its cargo and covering silt, was removed completely to a pool-type container located in a nearby museum, called "crystal palace," for further archaeological research.

Experts say the same salvage approach will not be applied to Nan'ao 1. The excavation of relics in Nan'ao 1 is expected to be completed by early July, and salvage of the wreck would begin in the second half of the year, Wei said.

"As for specific salvage operations, we have made several plans—either dismantling it or strengthening it with a special glue, but we have not made a final decision," Wei said.