The Museum of Chinese History has agreed to preserve an ancient wine vessel made of wood believed to be the largest wine vessel in China.

The rectangular red pine vessel, which is 262 centimeters long, 131 centimeters wide and 164 centimeters high, was donated on December 27 to the Museum by the Jinzhou government, in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The wine storing in the vessel Known as "Wood Wine Ocean" was a tribute wine drunk by members of the Qing (1644-1911) court.

When the vessel was unearthed, it contained more than four tons of wine that had been stored for 151 years. The wine had a strong flavor and was still drinkable. The vessel was one of the four unearthed in June 1996 by Lingchuan Daoguang Group in Jinzhou when the company was moving to a new location.

The huge vessel will be valuable for studying how wine was stored during the Qing dynasty and for studying Manchurian culture.