China's top 10 archaeological discoveries for 2024, one of the highest honors for China's archaeologists, was released on April 24, 2025, in Beijing.

The Panlongcheng site, excavated in Huangpi District of Wuhan, was listed among the findings.

The Panlongcheng site is a city site dating back to the early Shang Dynasty of China (c.16th century-11th century BC). It has the largest scale, clearest layout, and richest archaeological discoveries of any site in the Yangtze River valley. It was a regional center of the early Bronze civilization along the Yangtze River and laid the foundations for Wuhan city. It was named one of China's 100 major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

The site covers 3.95 sq km, and the key protection area is 1.39 sq km. Its ruins include central palaces, building bases, aristocratic tombs and handicraft workshops. More than 3,000 exquisite cultural relics have been unearthed, such as a large jade dagger-axe (ge), a large bronze tripod cauldron (ding), a large bronze battle-axe (yue), and a set of turquoise ornaments inlaid with gold flakes. These are all of high historical, scientific and artistic value.

Studies based on these findings show that the vast area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River entered the Bronze Age in different ways, due to the influence and stimulation of Panlongcheng. For this reason, the Panlongcheng site serves as a key to people's understanding of the Bronze Age in the mid Yangtze River valley, as well as an important site of human cultural heritage.