BEIJING, June 24 -- An exhibition opened on Wednesday in Beijing observing the 3,060th anniversary of the founding of Beijing.

More than 40 items are on displayed at the Capital Museum, which give an insight into the past life of the ancient capital of Yan Kingdom.

Beijing first took shape during the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th

century B.C.), however, excavations indicate that the city was founded in 1,045 B.C., as the capital of Yan. Liulihe Town in Fangshan District in Beijing's southwest, was the capital of Yan.

"Sewage networks were a feature of the Yan capital," said Tian Jingdong, from the Beijing Cultural Heritage Research Institute. "They were not just ditches, but pottery pipes."

Beijing was the capital of dynasties including the Yuan, Ming and Qing, making it a cultural and political center for over a thousand years.

The free exhibition will end on July 19.