Their work, Wang said, is like "extending a salute to the older generation".

In fact, Laiyang is the first dinosaur fossil site in China discovered by Chinese scientists. The earliest excavation dates back to 1923 when Chinese geologist Tan Xichou collected fossils of dinosaur, fish, insects and plants in Jiangjunding (near Jingangkou) and neighboring areas.

The first Laiyang dinosaur, Tanius sinensis, was named in honor of Tan by Carl Wiman, a Swedish paleontologist, in 1929.

In the 1950s, Yang Zhongjian, a leading vertebrate paleontologist in China, led a team to Laiyang.

They dug up fossil vertebrates and recovered China's first complete dinosaur skeleton Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus Young in 1958.

Also, fossils unearthed in Laiyang helped build up the international classification system and naming system for dinosaur eggs.

In 1984, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology of China was established in Laiyang.

However, as more and more dinosaur and other vertebrate fossil sites were discovered in China, paleontologists swarmed to other sites, and Laiyang faded from scientists' view.