Five farmers in northwest China's Shaanxi province set out on an outbound tour to France and Italy during the weekend, a reward for their discovery and protection of an ancient bronzeware cellar.

The 10-day tour takes them to Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris for sightseeing at the expense of the provincial cultural heritage bureau.

The five local farmers, Wang Ningxian, Wang Mingsuo, Wang Qinning, Wang Laqian and Zhang Qinhui, are folks from Yangjia village, Meixian county in Baoji city.

They stumbled upon a bronzeware chamber on the afternoon of Jan.19, 2003, when digging and getting earth for a nearby brick kiln. Becoming aware the immense value of the ruins, they stopped working and called local cultural heritage authority to report their discovery.

Archeologists later excavated from the cellar 27 bronzeware pieces from the late Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 - 771 BC).

As the well-preserved bronzes feature lengthy, vivid inscriptions and outclass all previous findings in size and number, experts say these relics will shed light on China's lesser known history from the Xia Dynasty (2070 to 1600 BC) to the Zhou Dynasty(1100-256 BC).

Local cultural relic authorities rewarded each farmer with 20,000 yuan (some 2,400 US dollars) in cash last year.

Baoji city, dubbed "a land of bronzeware", has so far reported a host of discoveries of precious bronzeware of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100-771 BC). The city is also home to China's only bronzeware museum.

Source: Xinhua