Shaanxi province

Shaanxi History Museum

The Shaanxi History Museum was built in 1983 and opened on June 20, 1991 with its appearance recalling a typical Tang Dynasty architectural style. All its exquisite bronzes of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century - 11th century BC), unique gold and silver ware of the Han (206 BC-AD 220) and the Tang (618-907) dynasties, wall paintings of Tang imperial tombs, and terracotta figurines of varied types and postures show the colorful culture of several past dynasties.

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Xi’an Banpo Museum

In 1953, some painted potteries were discovered at the construction site of a thermal power plant in Xi’an. After extensive research, the Banpo Site was gradually revealed to the public.

As China’s first museum of prehistoric ruins, the Xi’an Banpo Museum offers a look into the matriarchal clan society that lived in the Yellow River basin during the Neolithic Age about 6,000 years ago, revealing their social organization and daily activities.

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Shimao City Ruins

Discovered on the steep hills of today's Yulin city, the ruins of the lost kingdom of Shimao lie on the northern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi province. They date to a period between the late Neolithic era and the early Xia Dynasty (c.21st century-16th century BC), and are the largest city site ever discovered in China.

The Neolithic site is a window into the origin of Chinese civilization and may have been the center of northern China in the early Xia Dynasty. In 2006, it was rated as a national foremost protected cultural heritage site. In December 2020 it was listed as one of the world's top 10 archaeological discoveries of the past decade by the journal Archaeology.