Xian Museum
Covering an area of 254 mu (41.8 acres), Xian Museum is situated two kilometers way from the City Wall (southwest section) in the Beilin District of Xian City, Shaanxi Province. With an exhibition area of about 1.2 acres, the museum houses 130,000 pieces of historical relics in Xian City during the ancient times.
Centered on the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the Jianfu Temple, the museum and the area around it have become a historical and cultural site that combines the grand museum, ancient pagoda and the tranquil park as a whole. Now it has been considered as a fantastic place for travelers and the local residents to learn the history of Xian and to enjoy a peaceful and relaxed time.
Very near Xian Museum is the Small wild Goose Pagoda, which was built during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It was the pagoda of the famous temple - Jianfu Temple of during that period. Originally, there were 15 storeys. Unfortunately, the 14th and 15th storeys were destroyed by several earthquakes during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Thus it has now only 13 storeys.
The Jianfu Temple was destroyed during the late period of the Tang Dynasty. The current one we see has been restored during the Ming and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties. The constructions inside the temple all stand on the axial line of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. The tourist area of Xian Museum was also built along the axial line.
The museum has three major exhibition sections: the Basic Exhibition Hall, the Thematic Exhibition Hall and the Temporary Exhibition Hall.
The basic exhibition is on the theme of the 'Ancient Capital - Xian'. This area mainly displays the development of ancient Xian and people's social life during the 13 dynasties when Xian was China's capital. Occupying an area of 2,485 square meters (2,972 square yards), there are totally more that 660 sets of cultural exhibits. Especially, there are models of Chang'an City in the Han (206 BC - 220 AD), Sui (581 - 618), Tang, Song (960 - 1279), Yuan (1271 - 1368), Ming and Qing Dynasties. Here visitors can learn the civilization of the Zhou (770 BC - 221 BC), Qin (221 BC - 206 BC), Han, Tang and Ming by admiring the cultural relics in these dynasties.
The thematic area covers the themes of Buddhist statue arts, calligraphy and paintings, jade and seals. The Buddhist art zone displays over 120 items of exhibits, such as the Buddhist stone statues and copper statues, showing the important status of the Buddhism in the ancient Chang'an City; there are over 100 works of calligraphy and painting here; in the jade zone, about 120 pieces of refined jade articles, which are classified according to different use; also, there are more than 200 seals on show, present visitors the official and private seals.
Finally, the Temporary Exhibition Hall usually displays cultural and historical relics coming from districts and counties of Xian. Approximately, there are a total of more than 20,000 items in these areas waiting to be presented group by group in Xian Museum.
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:30 (from Tuesday to Sunday; closed on Mondays)
Tickets for free: 4,000 tickets available per day (not available after 16:00)
Bus Routes: Take Bus No. 18, 21, 29, 32, 40, 46, 203, 204, 218, 224, 407, 410, 508, 521, 700, 707, 713, 720, Tourism Bus No. 7, Tourism Bus No. 8 (610) or Wulong Special Line and get off at Small Wild Goose Pagoda stop or Xiajiazhuang stop.
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