CHONGQING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum has launched a three-month-long exhibition on prehistoric jadeware from the Yangtze River basin.

The exhibition, which opened in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on July 27, covers an area of about 800 square meters and accommodates 305 pieces or sets of jadeware, including 32 first-class cultural relics. It consists of four sections, chronologically showcasing how prehistoric jadeware originated, developed, and prospered in the Yangtze River basin.

The Yangtze River is an important cradle of the Chinese civilization and jade is one of the most representative elements of the Chinese culture. Since the 1930s, many prehistoric items of jadeware have been unearthed along the Yangtze River, showing the profound inheritance of jade culture along the river.

"More than 90 percent of these artifacts were unearthed along the Yangtze River, with nearly half of the exhibits coming from archaeological institutions in such provincial regions as Chongqing, Hunan, Anhui and Zhejiang," said Xia Huogen, associate research librarian of the China Three Gorges Museum.

The exhibition will be open to the public until Oct. 27 this year.