More than 2,000 people turned out to the opening of a new museum Wednesday to see silver, copper and porcelain treasures salvaged from a Chinese sailing ship that sank 800 years ago.

About 200 artifacts and the pool containing the still submerged merchant vessel, the Nanhai No.1, were on display at the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang City, in the southern province of Guangdong.

Curator Zhang Wanxing said many visitors praised the design of the museum, saying it highlighted the theme of maritime culture, but they were disappointed the ship remained unseen and the number of exhibits was small.

The 30-meter-long vessel, which was raised from the seabed two years ago, had been immersed in a sealed glass container in a huge pool at the museum.

The pool -- 64 meters long, 40 meters wide, 23 meters high and about 12 meters in depth -- was filled with sea water and silt to replicate the water temperature, pressure and other environmental conditions of the vessel's previous resting place.

Archaeologists said after a trial excavation earlier this year that the wooden structure was perfectly preserved.

The museum authority was considering showing the excavation process to visitors in the future, said Zhang.

"We'll mainly focus on equipment adjustment, staff deployment and security measures during the first opening stage from December 2 to 18. A detailed management plan is expected to be worked out in the following week before the official opening on December 24," said Zhang.

The artifacts on display were mostly porcelain and included a small number of silver and copper items, copper coins and stone statues, said Zhang.

Construction of the museum, covering 19,409 square meters, began in 2006 and was completed in August this year at a cost of more than 200 million yuan, said Ma Hongzao, vice director with the publicity office of Yangjiang.

The ticket price is 40 yuan (US$5.85) for the trial opening and it will be raised to 80 yuan after the museum officially opens on December 24.

The Nanhai No.1, which dates from the Southern Song Dynasty in the 13th Century, was lifted from seabed off south China at the end of 2007 with much of its cargo.

Chinese archaeologists discovered more than 200 porcelain artifacts during a 40-day trial excavation in August and September. They recovered more than 4,000 gold, silver and porcelain items, and about 6,000 copper coins while the ship was still on the seabed.

A full excavation is scheduled to begin next year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2009)