KUNMING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Shovels in hand, crowds of people in southwest China gathered in a street to dig for buried treasure in a scene that went viral after photos circulated online.

Tengchong City, which borders Myanmar, boasts 600 years of history in the jade industry. Over the years, leftover jade was discarded and buried underground in the city.

According to the city government, a road reconstruction project was carried out on Sept. 26, leaving some of this jade exposed. Some locals entered the construction site later in the evening, contrary to safety rules. Larger crowds gathered as onlookers were drawn to the scene.

Some jade was exposed in the roadbed, and people of different ages were digging using all kinds of tools, said local resident Wang Juncai.

"Some did dig out the jade, and even started setting up stalls to sell the pieces nearby," said a local jewelry seller surnamed Jian.

A government worker, who declined to be named, said similar incidents have occurred in the past during construction projects.

The city's publicity department released a notice on its official WeChat account Tuesday afternoon asking netizens not to exaggerate the amount of jade or its value to avoid drawing more people to the construction site.

The department also noted that there should not be much valuable jade left in the soil as the road has already undergone several construction projects.