A jade phoenix found at the Yaoheyuan site, Ningxia Hui autonomous region. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Each item has its unique characteristics, and some kind of discoveries have few counterparts in previous years, like religious ritual sites," he said, speaking of Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) shrine remains that were unearthed in Jilin province.

"It indicated Chinese people had begun to pay homage to deities on Changbai Mountain at that time," he said.

The other religious site on the list is Grand Shangqing Palace, a top-level imperial Taoist temple from the Ming Dynasty in Yingtan, Jiangxi province.

The judging panel was composed of 21 experts from the country's top-tier institutions, including the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Twenty-six projects entered the final round of appraisal from the preliminary selection, which was based on a public poll and scholars' opinions.