Shanxi Museum

Shanxi Museum
山西博物院

Address: 13 Northern Section of Binhe West Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi province
Website: www.shanximuseum.com/(Cn)
Hours: 9:00 am-17:00 pm (no entry after 16:00 pm)
Closed Mondays (except for national holidays), the first day and the last day of Chinese lunar year.
E-mail: shanximuseum@163.com
General admission: Free (passport required for entry, with a daily limit of admittance of 8,000)

Established in 2004, Shanxi Museum on the west bank of Fenhe River in Taiyuan covers 112,000 square meters and is the largest collection, protection, research and exhibition center for historical relics in Shanxi province.

The museum complex consists of a main building and four auxiliary buildings at the area’s four corners. The shape of the main building resembles an ancient Chinese cauldron, called a ding, with four different wings symbolizing richness and stability. The entire complex is a cultural landmark in the city.
Shanxi Museum houses some 400,000 works of art that embody Chinese traditional culture. Showcasing the essence of Shanxi culture are relics from the Neolithic Age at the Taosi site, relics from the Shang (c.16th century-11th century BC), Zhou (c.11th century-256 BC) and Northern Dynasties (386-581) , stone carvings, local Shanxi ceramics, theatrical objects datable to the Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties, and cultural relics related to Shanxi merchants from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Permanent exhibitions focus on the general theme of the "Spirit of Shanxi", introducing from a historical perspective the origin of ancient civilization, ethnic convergence, the influence of Buddhism, the flourishing of local operas and commercial activities and, from an artistic perspective, the arts of architecture, jade carving, painting and calligraphy, coins and ceramics.