At a symposium earlier that month, the culture had been formally named, Sheng told Zhejiang Daily, adding that he was amazed by the attention. The directive put things into high gear. Within months, a 500-square-meter exhibition hall was built and opened to the public. Within three years, the pottery pieces that had been unearthed were sorted.

　　Despite the mountainous terrain of Pujiang leaving relatively little space for land resources, local protectors like Sheng still left nearly 90 hectares of "fine land" for the excavation and research of Shangshan.

　　"Shangshan is thus a key for people to improve their cultural confidence," Sheng said.

　　In November 2020, top-tier scholars gathered again in Pujiang for another symposium on Shangshan studies. With in-depth field research and abundant findings, they concluded that the place was a key origin of the world's rice cultivation.

　　Yang Jianwu, former director of the Zhejiang Administration of Cultural Relics, said the surge in scholarly attention has cemented a series of landmark conclusions that fundamentally rewrite the story of human civilization in East Asia.

　　Around 20 years ago, Xi's guidance on heritage protection benefited more projects in Zhejiang, ranging from the world-famous West Lake and the Grand Canal to a number of intangible cultural heritage items, such as folk operas. He also made a key instruction on the restoration of the historic Wenlange library, a crucial trove of ancient books, and encouraged the wide participation of different sectors in the preservation of traditional villages.

　　"During Xi's work in Zhejiang, he stressed on many occasions that we must attach great importance to cultural heritage protection and embrace the notion that protecting cultural relics is also a kind of political achievement," Yang said.