Gansu Provincial Museum Overview & Map Weather Transportation Information
The Gansu Provincial Museum is located in southern Lanzhou City. It is the largest and most comprehensive museum of Gansu Province. Built in 1956, the museum covers a total area of 18,000 square meters (about 4 acres). Designed by the soviet experts, this museum will provide visitors with a unique and memorable experience.
The museum complex
The museum complex consists of three separate buildings linked by corridors: the two wings of the building are three storied and the main building in the middle has five levels. At the back of the building, there is a display hall and a lecture hall. It is further divided into two sections - a natural resources section downstairs and historical exhibits upstairs.
What to visit
The rich collections
The Museum boasts 75,000 cultural relics, ranging from natural specimens to historical, revolutionary and national heritages, of which more than 110 pieces are of the first class, including Gansu color-painted pottery, and bamboo slips on medication of the Han era, etc.
- Galloping Horse of Wuwei
The most famous piece in the collection of Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) bronzes is the Galloping Horse of Wuwei that is accompanied by an impressive array of chariots and carriages.
- Potteries
The museum houses collections of various color-painted potteries of Neolithic Age and treasures of ancient grottoes. The design of these potteries is gorgeous and has the characteristic of the local culture.
- Bamboo slips
More than 20,000 brochures of the bamboo slips and other Chinese Jian (a kind of brochure) contribute to the studies of the Han Dynasty history.
- Stone with Chinese characters
There are 175 pieces of stone carved with Chinese characters, and most of these works are done by Ouyang, Yan and WangXizhi, outstanding calligraphers in China's ancient time.
- Mammoth fossil replica
A 4-meter-tall Mammoth fossil replica is stored in the museum whose remains were excavated from the Yellow River basin in 1973.
- Other collections
In addition, the museum is home to precious linen and silk fabrics, books, wooden and bronze vessels, frescos and so many other items.
Aside from the prehistoric presentations, there are also rare animal exhibits, such as pandas, golden monkeys and red -crowned cranes.
The exhibiting halls
With 7,500 square meters of exhibition space, the Museum mainly features five exhibition halls, namely, the Hall of Gansu Historical Relics, the Hall of Gansu Natural Resources, the Hall of Jiayuguan Murals of Wei and Jin Period, the Hall of the Yellow River Ancient Elephants, and the Hall of Red Army's Long March via Gansu.
The Hall of Gansu Historical Relics
The Hall of Gansu Historical Relics exhibits about 1,500 items of unearthed relics, mainly including painted pottery bowls, vessels and agricultural tools, and excavations from the Silk Road of the Han (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) and Tang (618 - 907) periods. The unearthed pottery objects bear the patterns of birds, frogs, flowers or leaves. Among them, pottery vessels of Majiayao Culture excavated from the region of the Yellow River Valley are the best. Geometric motifs like parallel lines, circles, crosses, and spirals (volutes) were used.
The Hall of Gansu Natural Resources
The Hall of Gansu Natural Resources exhibits about 1,380 items of real objects as well as models, introducing knowledge on Gansu's population, nationality, transportation, climate, animals and plants resources, etc.
The Hall of Jiayuguan Murals of Wei and Jin Period
The Hall of Jiayuguan Murals of Wei and Jin Period (220 - 420) displays over 60 murals on the tomb bricks mainly depicting the daily life of the aristocrats, laboring scenes of the common people, and imperial life. The colorings are well-preserved and still very vivid.
The Hall of the Yellow River Ancient Elephants
The Hall of the Yellow River Ancient Elephants exhibits a 4-meter-tall and 8-meter-long fossil of the Yellow River Xiphodon mammoth, which is the largest and best-preserved remains of its kind in the world.
* The Hall of Red Army's Long March via Gansu
The last hall contains revolutionary relics of the Long March, including pictures, documents, and real objects, etc.
The treasure of the museum - Galloping Horse of Wuwei
The world-famous bronze Galloping Horse of Wuwei, also known as Galloping Horse's Hoof Stepped on a Flying Swallow, is the treasure of Gansu Provincial Museum. Excavated in 1969 in Wuwei County, the piece depicts a vigorous horse with long tail waving and head perking. Its three hooves are in the air, galloping like lightening. What makes this sculpture amazing is the right back hoof of this galloping horse lands on the back of a small flying bird. The bird turns in surprise to look at the big creature on its back. At the same moment, the horse's head also turns slightly in attempt to know what has happened. The whole statue is honored as the mysterious and rare treasure in the history of Chinese ancient sculpture art.
The statue of Tang Dynasty Warrior
Additionally, the museum hosts a 1.5 meters high statue of Tang Dynasty Warrior which is made of a colored and then glazed earthenware. A gilded silver plate that portrays Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, that dates back some 2,000 years from the Eastern Roman Empire.
How to get there
- By bus
Both bus No.1 and 31 take you there. The museum is directly across the street from the Friendship Hotel.
What time to visit
- Opening Hours:
09:10 to 11:30 in the morning
14:40 to 17:30 in the afternoon
(Tuesday to Saturday)
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