Maritime Silk Road documentary wins silver Telly Award

HAIKOU, China, June 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn

The Chinese documentary Silk Road Sunken Treasures won the Silver Award in the General Documentary (Short Form) category for television at the 47th Telly Awards — one of the longest-running and most prestigious honors in international film and video production. It stood out from more than 13,000 entries submitted from over 50 countries.

The documentary — produced by CGTN under China Media Group — used compelling deep-sea footage and rigorous academic interpretations to bring the story of a milestone Chinese deep-sea archaeology discovery to a global audience.

The film presents the discovery and investigation of shipwreck sites on the northwestern slope of the South China Sea. The judges said it makes these findings accessible and emotionally resonant for viewers worldwide and marks a significant step in telling just what deep-sea archaeology is all about beyond the specialist research community.

From 2023 to 2024 — under the coordination of the National Cultural Heritage Administration — archaeological teams conducted systematic and groundbreaking surveys of two shipwreck sites located at a depth of about 1,500 meters southeast of Sanya.

The project involved 70 days of offshore operations and 63 dives by the crewed submersible Shenhai Yongshi — successfully recovering 928 cultural relics.

Archaeological research confirmed that both vessels were ancient trading ships dating to the Hongzhi and Zhengde periods of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The total estimated number of artifacts at the sites exceeds 100,000 pieces — making it one of the most significant underwater archaeological discoveries in the world in recent years and providing vivid evidence of the commercial vitality of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

A spokesperson for the Hainan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said the shipwreck sites on the northwestern slope of the South China Sea represented a marine cultural heritage site of both local and global significance, bearing witness to Hainan's deep-rooted maritime civilization.

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