A travel guide to museums in Shanxi

As the main birthplace of Chinese civilization, North China's Shanxi province bears the imprint of China's 5,000-year history. In recent years, some museums in the province have become the popular attractions for tourists, as the cultural tourism continues to gain momentum.

To celebrate this year's International Museum Day on May 18, 10 museums in Shanxi have banded together to jointly carry out a series of live broadcast activities since May 9, providing people an opportunity to learn more about the stories behind each exhibit and Shanxi's contribution to the evolution of Chinese civilization.

Let's take a look at the 10 museums to learn more about Shanxi's history and how it formed Chinese civilization as we know it.

1. Shanxi Museum

Shanxi Museum. [Photo provided by Shanxi Museum]

The Shanxi Museum is one of the first museums in the country to be given the title "national first-class museum", and it is the largest center for collecting, protecting, researching, and showcasing cultural relics in Shanxi. It covers an exhibition area of 13,000 square meters and has a collection of over 500,000 artifacts, as well as over 110,000 ancient books. Its basic display is categorized into seven historical and cultural themes as well as five artistic themes.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Pointed stone with three edges from the Paleolithic Age

Address: No 13 Northern section of Binhe West Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00)

Closed days: closed on Mondays (except those that fall on national holidays), New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar

2. Yuncheng Museum

Yuncheng Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

As a comprehensive museum, Yuncheng Museum covers a building area of 23,570 sq m and has an exhibition area of 15,000 sq m. It has a collection of up to 20,422 artifacts, of which 572 are precious cultural relics. The main categories of the museum's collections include pottery, porcelain, bronze ware, coins, calligraphy and paintings, stoneware, and stone carvings.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Dongzhuang type colored pottery basin from the Neolithic Age

Address: No 1080 Weifeng Street, Yanhu district, Yuncheng city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00, Tuesday to Sunday)

Closed days: Mondays (except those that fall on national holidays), New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar 

3. Shanxi Archaeological Museum

Shanxi Archaeological Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

The Shanxi Archaeological Museum is built at the site of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple, a key national cultural relic protection site. It is a venue for the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology to collect, protect, research, and display its excavated relics. Currently boasting over 50,000 collections, the museum is committed to telling the story of Shanxi and its role in the development of Chinese civilization.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Neolithic stone-carved silkworm pupa

Address: No 40 Wenmiao Lane, Yingze district, Taiyuan city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00)

Closed days: Mondays

4. Linfen Museum

Linfen Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

The Linfen Museum covers a building area of 32,429 sq m, making it the largest cultural relic collection, protection, research, and exhibition center in the city. The museum has a collection of 140,000 cultural relics, including 94 national first-class cultural relics. The copper ware, pottery, porcelain, ironware, and brick carvings represent the most distinctive cultural relics in the museum's collection. At present, the museum exhibits over 3,000 exquisite cultural relics.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Neolithic painted Loong (Chinese dragon) platter

Address: the South end of Jiuzhou Square, Binhe West Road, Linfen city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00)

Closed days: Mondays (except those that fall on national holidays, then the closure will be postponed until the first day after the holiday)

5. Jin State Museum

Jin State Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

The Jin State Museum was the first large-scale museum in Shanxi province built based on a cultural relics site and also the first Jin culture themed museum in China. The museum covers a building area of 13,393 sq m and an exhibition area of 8,985 sq m. Focusing on culture during the Jin State, the museum has created three exhibitions, including the Exhibition of Jin State History and Culture, Archaeological Excavation History Exhibition, and the Exhibition of the Tomb Site of the Marquis of Jin.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Shuyu cauldron from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC)

Address: Beizhao village, Qucun town, Quwo county, Linfen city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00)

Closed days: Mondays (except those that fall on national holidays)

6. Taiyuan Museum

Taiyuan Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

As a cultural landmark and the only comprehensive museum in Taiyuan, the Taiyuan Museum currently has a collection of over 50,000 artifacts that are sorted into more than 10 categories, such as pottery, porcelain, jade, bronze, calligraphy and painting, and furniture. All of these cultural relics reflect the history and culture of Taiyuan.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Chariot and horse pit of Zhao Qing's tomb from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC)

Address: No 13 Guangjing Road, Changfeng Business District, Jinyuan district, Taiyuan city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00)

Closed days: Mondays (except those that fall on national holidays)

7. Yungang Grottoes Museum

Yungang Grottoes Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

The Yungang Grottoes Museum is a semi-underground building that was established in 2011. It covers an area of 15,000 sq m, with a building area of 6,640 sq m. It introduces the development history of the Xianbei ethnic group during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), as well as the excavation process and artistic origin of the Yungang Grottoes through a large number of excavated and collected cultural relics.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: The 12th grotto (musical grotto) of Yungang Grottoes

Address: the Yungang Grottoes Scenic Area in Luowenzao town, Yungang district, Datong city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:30-16:30 (all year)

8. Datong Museum

Datong Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

The Datong Museum is a comprehensive chorography museum that covers an area of 51,556 sq m and has a building area of 32,821 sq m. It is the largest museum in the northern Shanxi region, and currently boasts over 170,000 cultural relics. The collections are renowned for showcasing the cultural characteristics of northern ethnic groups, border towns, and religions.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Epitaph of Sima Jinlong from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534)

Address: No 506 Taihe Road, Pingcheng district, Datong city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:00)

Closed days: Mondays (except those that fall on national holidays), New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar 

9. Shanxi Ancient Architecture Museum

Shanxi Ancient Architecture Museum. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

The Shanxi Ancient Architecture Museum covers an area of more than 10,000 sq m. Located at the Taiyuan Chunyang Palace site, the museum is divided into five courtyards. The main buildings include wooden memorial archways, halls, and cloisters. The museum has over 70 halls and 30 exhibition halls, with seven basic displays and an exhibition area of approximately 3,000 sq m.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: Jiugong Bagua Courtyard

Address: No 1 Qifeng Street, Yingze district, Taiyuan city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 on Tuesday to Sunday (entry until 16:30)

Closed days: Mondays

10. Eighth Route Army Taihang Memorial Hall

Eighth Route Army Taihang Memorial Hall. [Photo/Shanxi Evening News]

Situated in one of the largest battlefield locales from China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), the Eighth Route Army Taihang Memorial Hall boasts a collection of 8,000 cultural relics, primarily related to the Eighth Route Army, an army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party of the Republic of China. The hall area is mainly divided into two parts, namely, the exhibition area and tourist area.

5/18 Recommended exhibit: The typecasting machine of Xinhua Daily's printing office

Address: No 363 Taihang Street, Wuxiang county, Changzhi city, Shanxi province

Opening hours: 8:30-18:30 (summer, entry until 17:30), 8:30-18:00 (winter, entry until 17:00)