Underwater museum opens in Chongqing

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Just in time for Museum Day. In the Southwest China municipality of Chongqing, the Baiheliang Museum is opening this week. It will be the country's first underwater museum.

The Baiheliang Museum has more than half of its main structure under water. The facility was built to display the relics and cultural heritage from Baiheliang, an ancient historical site submerged by the Three Gorges Project.

Visitors must go through tight security before entering the underwater venue, which is more than 40 meters below ground.

The walls of the underwater venue have a series of portholes, through which spectators can view the ancient stone tablets and monuments, which now lie at the bottom of Yangtze River.

Baiheliang used to be an important trading station and transport hub. The town boasted a wealth of calligraphy and paintings left by renowned scholars and politicians over the dynastic past.