Taiyuan takes efforts to become a city of museums

Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, boasts 5,000 years of civilization and a city-building history of over 2,500 years. The city currently houses more than 2,000 immovable cultural relics, including 334 ancient sites, 121 ancient tombs, 932 ancient buildings, 48 grotto temples and stone carvings, and 796 significant historical sites and representative buildings from the modern era.

With the goal of becoming an internationally renowned cultural tourism destination, the city is home to 101 museums, with an average of one museum for every 54,000 residents, laying the foundation for becoming a "city of museums."

Taiyuan has increased investment and applied technologies to bring its cultural relics to life. The Xu Xianxiu Tomb in the northeast suburbs of the city has been transformed into the popular Beiqi Mural Museum, the first on-site built museum fo Beiqi mural in China. The museum's characteristics lie in its profound simplicity and technological sophistication.

In Taiyuan, an increasing number of museums are utilizing digital technology to make cultural relics more vivid and tangible. In mid-May, a digital exhibition of the Tianlongshan Grottoes took place in Athens, Greece, attracting a large number of locals, who admired and learned about Chinese grotto art.

Taiyuan has developed a well-structured museum network that focuses on different types of museums themed on things like Sanjin culture, Jinyang culture, Jin merchant culture, and vinegar culture. The Shanxi Museum, Taiyuan Museum, and Jinci Museum have all been selected as national first-tier museums this year.