Findings show that hominids have inhabited China between 250,000and 2.24 million years ago. Homo sapiens have been found theredating back to 18,000 – 11,000 BC. However, the first imperialdynasty (Xia) in China emerged around 2070 BC. The first dynastythat left historical records was the Shang dynasty, dating back to1766 BC to 1122 BC.