NANCHANG, June 19 -- Archaeologists have discovered a city dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1384-1644) in east China's Jiangxi Province.

The provincial cultural relics and archaeology research institute said after seven months of examination and excavation, archaeologists confirmed a county-level city site in Tianbao Village, Yongfeng County.

Covering an area of around 550,000 square meters, the city is shaped like a gourd.

Archaeologists said that a 3,000-meter-long city wall has been discovered at the site. Inscriptions on several bricks in the wall showed they were produced in 1524. Some other bricks had inscriptions that showed the wall had been maintained between 1736 and 1850, during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Eight gates have also been unearthed during the excavation.