Water has not only enabled the construction of a city but also provided the glue for Liangzhu to become a cohesive society, Zhao Xu reports.

Does water have memory? Some scientists suggest it does while others deem it a wild proposition. But for Wang Ningyuan, who has been working at the Neolithic archaeological site of Liangzhu for the past 23 years, there is little argument that it is water that has helped to prevent the memory of an ancient civilization from disintegrating, and allowed people like him a precious glimpse into its bygone glory.