A barbecue restaurant owner in Heze, Shandong Province, was forced to close down and sell sweet potatoes at the storefront after being reported by name for suspected missing relics from a sunken ancient Yuan Dynasty ship. Within two months, the restaurant was inspected approximately 15 times by five different departments before ultimately shutting down on September 7th. The owner expressed that “there needs to be an explanation” for the situation. The Shandong authorities stated that the suspected missing relics circulating online are tentatively identified as fragments of blue and white porcelain, with the incident still under investigation.
The story goes back to 2010 when a sunken ancient Yuan Dynasty ship was discovered at a construction site in downtown Heze. Subsequent rescue excavations by relevant departments unearthed a large number of artifacts, including blue and white porcelain. By the end of 2011, this incident was reported on CCTV, showing an image of a blue and white cup semi-buried in the soil.
Fifteen years later, this image caught the attention of Zhang, the restaurant owner. At the end of June this year, following a tip from an informed internet user, he compared old CCTV footage, museum collection records, and artifact transfer lists, suspecting that the blue and white cup in the image did not appear in any relevant documentation. He then reported the case to the Heze police, reported to the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism about suspected precious relics missing from the sunken ship excavation, and publicly shared the comparison process online.
Since July, Zhang’s barbecue restaurant faced frequent inspections. The fire department, market supervision, natural resources, comprehensive law enforcement, agriculture, rural affairs, and other departments successively visited the restaurant for inspections related to fire safety, food security, smoke disturbance, unauthorized construction, and selling dog meat, totaling about 15 visits within two months.
In August, while Zhang was selling watermelons at a nearby market, his stall was vandalized by a woman who was later administratively detained for seven days. On September 7th, the barbecue restaurant ceased operations. Zhang suspected that the intense inspections were related to his previous report, but admitted that there is currently no direct evidence to support this claim.
The Heze “12345 Government Hotline” provided another set of data. According to the hotline, since its opening in May 2025, the barbecue restaurant has received over 120 complaints, with 116 of them coming from the same whistleblower. A broader investigation revealed that the whistleblower had reported 538 issues involving over sixty fast food and barbecue establishments in Heze.
The hotline official stated that after screening the complaints, over ten different areas of concern were identified for referral to relevant departments for follow-up. These departments confirmed the presence of issues at the restaurant and have ordered corrective measures but acknowledged that there were some problems with the “unregulated enforcement actions” during the process.
The real focus of ongoing attention is on determining the nature of the blue and white porcelain artifact. The Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (Provincial Museum) announced on September 13th that, based on a review of transfer records, restoration data, and expert appraisals, the relic in question is tentatively identified as a fragment of blue and white porcelain rather than a complete piece. Further investigation is needed to verify the specifics, and a joint investigation team involving public security, tourism, and other departments has been established in Heze.
A blogger with the handle “Observing the Past and Present” posted on Baidu, stating that the reason this incident has gone viral is because the public is questioning whether the clues about the missing relics will receive a rigorous and transparent verification. They emphasized that “ordinary citizens actively guarding cultural relics and raising reasonable doubts should not face additional operational pressures.”
Currently, Zhang believes that there needs to be an explanation for the situation. He mentioned, “I am waiting for a response and will continue to follow the progress of the incident.” The questions regarding whether the blue and white porcelain artifact is complete or a fragment, the potential issues during the excavation and transfer process, and the possible connections between the intensive inspections and the report are still pending further investigation.