I felt (luck) to have won a place to go on a cultural tour to sites of lost civilizations. We visited Pompeii in Italy and Loulan in China. Pompei (found) in the 8th century BC, then takenby the Romans in 89 BC. Later, Pompei was destroyed by a volcano. It erupted and covered Pompei with ash. (fortunate), many people were buried alive. The city was forgotten for many years until the 18th century when a stone with writing on it was discovered by a farmer. People started to dig in the area treasure and caused much damage. Thus, in 1860, the area was governed by the government so could be preserved and studied.
Differently, Loulan disappeared under the sand. There were just a few (ruin) left. There was ancient water system (run) through the middle of the city. The desert was once a green with huge trees, but they were cut down,resulted in the city being buried by sand.
They were both important commercial cities about 2,000 years ago. It was a pity that they disappeared for ever.
