There is always an ongoing dispute about how old the ancient pyramids really are. Mainstream archaeologists tend to follow an agreed-upon timeline, while others continuously question the dates. Could the Egyptian pyramids really date back hundreds of thousands of years, as some suggest?
One thing is clear: The debate may never end. However, if we look at the big picture, there is a good reason to continue asking questions. Pyramids appear all over the globe bearing striking similarities that suggest possible worldwide communication, planning, and advanced technology thousands of years ago.
And in one case, a pristine and elaborately-carved pyramid was found deep underwater, giving more support to the idea that it could have been built in the distant past –Before the Great Flood described in worldwide ancient texts.
Far away from Egypt, in the vast and secretive nation of China, there is a sunken city and a large underwater pyramid. The location: Fuxian Lake. The lake is the Yunnan Province, covering 100 square miles with a depth of 508 feet. The lake is 1,720 meters above sea level and is one of the largest freshwater lakes in China.
A professional diver, Geng Wei, found carved flagstones laying under moss on the bottom in 1992. His further explorations, along with Chinese archaeologists with a submarine, discovered sunken city stairways and walls, earthenware, an arena-like structure, and roads.
The diver suspected the city might be the site of the legendary ancient city of Yuyuan, said to have disappeared in the distant past.
The missing pyramid
The following is from a Chinese news source called China Daily:
“Geng Wei believed the stones might be from a remote time. However, why were they underwater? Where did they come from? With these questions, Geng remembered a mystical legend about the lake. Local people often said residents could see a city-like silhouette under the lake from the nearby mountains on a fine, calm day.
Was it the ancient city mentioned in the legend? In order to explore this riddle, Geng dove into the waters some 38 times to carry on surveys. He finally wrote a report to notify related official departments and experts in Yunnan Province of his findings.”
The same Chinese news source, which is closely monitored by the communist government, openly tells the story of the underwater city. They say that archaeologists date objects from the site to around 250 CE, and at first suspected that the sunken city matched up with legends of the lost city of Yuyuan.
However, after closer examination, archaeologists determined the stone city could not be Yuyuan, as it was constructed of wood and clay, not stone. Furthermore, archaeologists attempting to date material on the stones found the sunken city must be far older.
Most notably, the source completely omits mention of any pyramid. On the other hand, Chinese travel guides highlight the pyramid and even compares the findings to Mayan pyramids.
From Travel China Guide:
“In 2005, the detected ancient city reached an area of 2.4 sq km (1 sq mi) with 8 main buildings. The most amazing one is Fuxian Lake Pyramid. This 5-story building is 21 m (69 ft) high and the shape is like the pyramid of Maya. A stage-style building with many bronze buckles was speculated to be a Sacrificial Altar. There are many 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 in) holes in the under-water buildings like a ‘Hoofprint of Sea Horse (a kind of animal in the legend of the lake).’ Researchers consider that they were probably used for building houses.”
A British new source also made comparisons to Mayan structures.
“Researchers claimed eight main buildings were found all under the water, including a round, colosseum-like building with a 37-meter wide base and a gap to the northeast and two large high buildings with floors, similar to the Mayan pyramids.”
Ancient Origins reported the pyramid seems to be advanced and described enigmatic carvings found on stones. A rare sun-shaped intaglio carving was found that could date to 1,800-years-old. Other carvings look like masks with faces that aren’t human, as well as symbols that resemble the numbers 0, 1, and the letter y.
For more about this as well as a story of possibly the largest pyramid on Earth in China, see our related article: Meet the enigmatic ‘Pre-Flood’ pyramids beneath Lake Fuxian in China
Legends of Fuxian Lake
According to Cheng Jang Fu Zhi, a book written during the reign of Emperor Daoguang described a flying horse-like animal that lived in the lake, described as white with red spots on its back. It was later described as similar to Pegasus after the flying horse of Greek legends.
On October 24, 1991, a fisherman named Zhang Yuxiang was out on the lake on a clear day. A dense fog rolled in, and the fisherman and others on the boat saw a shiny disk-shaped UFO rise out of the water. The craft created waves as it rose, tossing the fisherman’s boat about in the water. Then it shot off rapidly into the sky. (see video below)
China Daily reported that a hill west of the lake called Li Jiashan has been the site of regular army patrols, though nobody knows why. The hill was once the site of an ancient battlefield, and thousands of bronze castings were found there.
The Li Jiashan hill is known to attract lightning, according to the report.
“There was another strange phenomenon that occurred in Li Jiashan. Lightning has struck there many times. According to experts, massive amounts of metals must be buried there, accounting for the attraction of the electrical jolts. Are there still many bronze castings in Li Jiashan?
“There are many legends local people recall. An ancient fable had a description of ‘people who sank together with the old city and now live underwater.’ And some people once said, ‘when diving, they have spotted mummies standing in the lake.’”
See more from Ancient Aliens, Season 11, Episode 9, “The Hidden Empire”:
Featured images: Screenshots via YouTube, Ancient Aliens, History Channel