[advertise]广告[/advertise]Sep.28(Xinhua) ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered more than 200 precious porcelain artifacts on an 800-year-old merchant ship in Guangdong. The 40-day trial excavation ended Saturday with a massive excavation due to start next year, said Wei Jun, an archaeologist leading the excavation. The Nanhai No. 1 ship, of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was loaded with an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 relics. Archaeologists have also found a well-preserved cabin, board and deck in the trial excavation. They recovered more than 4,000 artifacts of gold, silver and porcelain, and about 6,000 copper coins from the merchant ship while it was still on the seabed. Discovered in mid-1987 off the coast near Yangjiang City, the 5,000-ton Nanhai No. 1 was recognized as one of the oldest and biggest merchant boats sunk in Chinese waters. Experts said the well-preserved vessel offers more evidence for the existence of an ancient maritime trade route linking China and the West. The ship, 30.4 meters long and 9.8 meters wide, was salvaged off the coast of Guangdong and moved to its purpose-built “Crystal Palace” at the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang in December 2007.