Yanzhou Museum

Yanzhou Museum [Photo/official WeChat account of Jining culture and tourism bureau]

Yanzhou Museum, located at 53 Wenhua East Road of Yanzhou district, Jining, East China's Shandong province, started construction in August 1984 and was rebuilt on the original site in September 2002, covering a combined floor area of 7,800 square meters. It currently has a collection of 90,954 cultural relics, including 29 national first-grade relics, 73 national second-grade relics, and 499 national third-grade relics. The museum offers exhibitions, cultural entertainment and sightseeing. 

There are two exhibition halls on the first floor: the west hall exhibits pictures of Yanzhou's history, cultural and historical sites, and significant historical events, while the east hall displays old pictures of the district's evolution, cityscapes and life of local people between the early 20th century and 1980s. On the second floor, there are five exhibition halls focusing on precious cultural relics, local civilization, swords, local history, and works by famous calligraphers and painters, where a total of 1,000 cultural relics are displayed.

The museum's Xinglong Pagoda was first built in the Sui Dynasty and was named after Xinglong Temple, an ancient temple in the district. The 13-story pagoda is in the shape of an octagon and was built with hollow bricks. The lower seven stories are much wider in diameter than the upper six stories, giving off the appearance of a "tower on a tower". The pagoda was recognized among the seventh group of Key Cultural Relics Sites under State Protection in May 2013.