The awarding ceremony on June 20

Six pieces of cultural relics that have been sorted out from among 13,329 pieces of stored gems around China in the past two years were unveiled in Beijing on June 20. They are entitled "China's Folk National Treasures."

They are respectively the Pot of Duke Qin in late Western Zhou dynasty (1100 -771 BC); the scroll "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911); the Chinese chess manual scripts "the Deep Pool, Infinite Sea" in the Qing dynasty; the modern-age Xiuyan Jade Dragon Bed; the present-day sandalwood carving "Celebrations at Jasper Lake, A Legendary Wonderland Where the Fairy Queen Lives," and the Qing Dynasty Wood Carving Screen Wall . These national treasures have been kept intact through the centuries..

In order to guarantee their safety, an insurance policy has been purchased for these six folk treasures from the Beijing Sub-branch of the Sunshine Property Insurance Joint-Stock Co., LTD. at a total cost of 310 million yuan (or some 40 million US dollars).

The Pot of Duke Qin

The 42.3-centimeters-high pot, one of the bronze artistic gems in ancient China, is intricately embellished. Around the inner brink of the pot are two lines of Chinese characters meaning "it was the Duke of the State Qin that had the pot made." Experts confirmed that the pot was made as a ritual vessel for the Duke of the State Qin, a ducal state in late Western Zhou Dynasty.