Yin Xu was the capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1300 to 1046 BC) of China and has more than 3,300 year's history. It is a testimony of the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences, as well as of great prosperity of the Chinese Bronze Age. The archaeological site is close to Anyang City, some 500 km south of Beijing covering 24 square km. It is the birthplace of Jiaguwen (inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty) and offers abundant and important content for studying the history of 3,000 years ago.

The site includes the Palace and Royal Ancestral Shrines Area (1,000m x 650m), with more than 80 house foundations. A number of royal tombs and palaces, prototypes of later Chinese architecture have been unearthed on the site. Only the tomb for Fu Hao who was a member of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty had been opened up and remained intact. The large number and superb craftsmanship of the burial accessories found there bear testimony to the advanced level of Shang handicraft industry; which now forms one of the national treasures of China.

Numerous pits containing bovine shoulder blades and turtle plastrons have been found in Yin Xu. Inscriptions on these oracle bones bear invaluable testimony to the development of one of the world's oldest writing systems, ancient beliefs and social systems. Yin Xu was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2006.