Liangzhu National Heritage Park offers free tours to the public all year round to better promote the historic site. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over 14 million junior school freshmen will learn about the Liangzhu culture captured in the 11th page of the new history textbooks officially launched nationwide on Sept 1.

The topic is regarded as a cultural gem and an important highlight of Chinese history.

The Neolithic Liangzhu culture that existed about 4,300 to 5,300 years ago in the Yuhang district of Hangzhou, was never mentioned in the junior textbooks until evidence showed the existence of the ancient city of Liangzhu in 2007.

The first town that has been found in the lower range of the Yangtze River, the ancient city also ranked the largest of its time, with an area of more than three million square meters, four times that of Beijing's Forbidden City.

Found in 1936 and named in 1959, the Liangzhu culture embraced another milestone in 2015 with the discovery of the Liangzhu hydraulic project site, which further pushed the culture to the spotlight as archaeologists excavated 11 dikes near the ancient city of Liangzhu.

It was considered one of the earliest of its kind in China and was listed among China's top 10 archaeological discoveries.

Over 135 sites have been discovered so far, including villages, tombs and altars. Numerous stone tools, potteries and jade productions with characteristics sketch touted as a highly-developed prehistory cultivation dating back to over 5,300 years ago.

"The Liangzhu cultural relics can be the most convincing evidence to prove that Chinese civilization is 5,000 years old," according to Zhang Zhongpei, the former director of the Palace Museum.

Efforts have been made to promote the great culture. Liangzhu National Heritage Park offers free tours to the public and it has also joined hands with Peking University to open summer camps, attracting over 200 junior students nationwide to take part in the archaeological research.

Regulations have been carried out to protect the site, and the government has been working to place the area on the waiting list to become a world cultural heritage site.