Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
新疆维吾尔自治区博物馆

Address: 581Xibei Road, Shayibake district, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region
Website: www.xjmuseum.com.cn
Hours: 10:00 -18:00, 15 April- 15 Oct (No entry after 16:30)
10:30-18:00, 16 Oct- 14 April (No entry after 16:30)
Closed Mondays
General admission: Free (a daily limit of 2,000 people)

Opened in 2005, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum covers an area of about 17,288 square meters and has a Uyghur architectural style, the internal decor having strong ethnic features. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum is home to over 32,000 cultural relics, including textiles, historical documents in various languages, inscribed bamboo strips and wood slips, clay and wood sculptures, traditional Chinese paintings, local ethnic clothing, Scythian-style bronzeware, fossils of ancient creatures, and ancient corpses discovered in Xinjiang.

Items in the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall include carpentries, ironware, bronzeware, bright and beautiful brocades, tomb figures, pottery, coins, rubbings from stone inscriptions, writings, and weapons. These give people a look into the past and show how the society of Xinjiang developed. The Folk Customs Exhibitions include costumes, tools, and everyday necessities. Together they vividly illustrate for us the dress, lifestyle, religion, marriage customs, festivals, and other aspects of the colorful life of the 12 minorities that live in Xinjiang. The Exhibition of the Revolutionary History of Xinjiang displays over 200 revolutionary relics and more than 200 pictures, providing insight into the history of the Chinese Communist Party fighting for the development of the region in different periods.

The signature exhibit of the museum is that of the well-preserved corpses buried in ancient times. These are quite different from the mummies in Egypt that were created through skilled embalming procedures; rather, these corpses were dried naturally by the environment. The most famous one is the so-called "Loulan Beauty" from around 4,000 years ago. Unearthed north of the Lop Nur in 1980, the corpse was believed to have died in her 40s. Visitors can still catch a glimpse of her beauty from her long brown hair, thick eyelashes, protruding nose, and pointed chin.

Since 1986, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum has staged exhibitions in Macau, Hong Kong, and Japan. By visiting the museum, visitors can gain a deeper understanding of the region.