Dingzhou Museum

Dingzhou Museum
定州博物馆

Address: Zhongshan East Road, Dingzhou city, Hebei province
Opening hours: 9 am-5 pm (last entry: 4:30 pm)
Closed Mondays (except national holidays)
Admission: Free
On-site reservation by scanning QR code or online reservation through mini program of Le You Ji (Enjoying Hebei) is required.
Visitors can book up to three days in advance (including the day of your visit).
Children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult.
If you don’t have a smartphone, you can use your ID card to collect tickets at the counter.
Tel: (+86-312) 2305100

Founded in 1959, Dingzhou Museum was originally located within the courtyard of the Dingzhou Confucian Temple. In 2018, it was relocated nearby and now also sits beside Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda, the site of the Imperial Examination Hall (Gongyuan) and the former residence of educator and organizer Y. C. James Yen (1890-1990), as well as the ancient-style Songjie Street and Kaiyuansi Avenue.

Among the museum’s collection of 100,000 artifacts, highlights include those from the Zhongshan State of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), Ding ware, Buddhist art and rare books.

There are 965 nationally valuable items and three iconic national treasures, namely green jade bi disc with dragons-holding-a-ring decorations and grain motifs, a jade screen with openwork carvings of mythical stories and the Ding ware of a white-glazed kalasa engraved with flower motifs and decorated with a dragon head-shaped spout.

Six permanent exhibitions of the museum showcase treasures unearthed from the Han Dynasty royal tombs, Northern Dynasties (386-581) sculptures, relics found in the underground chambers of the Jingzhi Temple Pagoda and Jingzhong Temple Pagoda, Ding ware ceramics, Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) jewelry and annals of Dingzhou’s historical figures.

Strolling in the museum, visitors can experience the profound historical and cultural heritage of Dingzhou and its ties to the ancient Zhongshan State.