In 1992, Harvard University Professor Richard Forman reportedly found prints on a paving stone close to Rehe Spring in the mountain resort. There are "more than 30 footprints of dinosaurs and birds," according to a city cultural relics bureau staff member. She refused to be fully named.
"Something ordinary people may consider common could be extraordinary fossils," Xing told the Global Times. "It's a pity that no further investigation was ever conducted on those footprints in the past decades."
This is not the only dinosaur-related finding in the city. In 1993, more than 80 dinosaur footprints were found in Luanping county, Chengde.
Scientists said those footprints were from 130 million years ago, news portal hebnews.cn reported in 2011.
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Some prints were damaged by weather and inadequate protection, hebnews.cn reported in 2011. Some were cut out and taken away.
Chengde Mountain Resort, the largest imperial park in the world, was constructed in 1703, and served as a summer retreat for Qing Dynasty emperors. Emperor Qianlong (1736-95) met the sixth Panchen Lama as well as guests and diplomats from overseas at the palace.
This article originally appeared on the Global Times website