Shanxi Museum 山西博物院Shānxī Bówùyuàn

Why go to Shanxi Museum

Shanxi's provincial museum, on the west bank of the Fen River in central Taiyuan, traces the province's history from prehistoric times to the Ming and Qing merchants, with further galleries of jade, ceramics, coins, painting and calligraphy. Give most of your time to the bronzes of the ancient state of Jin, the tomb figures of the Northern Wei and the Buddhist sculpture.

The story

The museum's prize piece is a bronze wine vessel shaped like a bird, cast for a Marquis of Jin in the Western Zhou dynasty and excavated at Quwo in southern Shanxi from a tomb that robbers had blasted open with explosives. It came out of the ground in pieces, its beak and tail missing, and after restoration it was placed on China's list of relics barred from exhibition abroad.

What to see at Shanxi Museum

• Jin State Hegemony 晋国霸业: Bronzes from the cemeteries of the state of Jin, including the chime-bells of the Marquis Su of Jin and the Houma covenant texts.
• Melting Pot of Peoples 民族熔炉: Finds from the Lou Rui, Xu Xianxiu and Yu Hong tombs, including the stone sarcophagus of Yu Hong and a gilded-silver goblet that reflect exchange between Shanxi and lands to the west.
• Buddhist Legacy 佛风遗韵: Buddhist sculpture of the Northern Wei, Sui and Tang from Shanxi's temples, villages and grottoes, including a painted white-stone Manjushri riding a lion.
• Home of Opera 戏曲故乡: Brick carvings of festival performances, tomb figures of the twenty-four filial exemplars and the story of Shanxi's Song-to-Yuan drama and shadow puppetry.
• Ming and Qing Shanxi Merchants 明清晋商: How draft banks worked and how merchants lived, with displays on merchant guild halls and the courtyard mansions of Jinzhong, and carved screens.

How to visit Shanxi Museum

The permanent display is organised around seven history galleries and five art galleries, so begin with the history galleries in order and then choose among the arts. A half-day is enough for the Jin, Northern Dynasties and Buddhist galleries plus the merchant gallery that links to Pingyao. The main building is shaped like a bronze vessel.

How to get to Shanxi Museum

Taiyuan South station, about 2.5–3 hours from Beijing by high-speed train, is on Taiyuan Metro Line 1; ride it to Taiyuan University of Technology station, about 1 km (a 15-minute walk) south of the museum.

Where to stay

Stay in Taiyuan, near Binhe West Road beside the Fen River close to the museum or along Metro Line 1, since the city is the hub for Pingyao and Mount Wutai.

What to eat

• Tounao 头脑: A warming Taiyuan breakfast soup with mutton, rice wine and vegetables, said to have been devised by the scholar Fu Shan for his sick mother.
• Shaomei 烧卖: A traditional Taiyuan steamed snack filled with meat; shops across the city serve it.
• Yangzage 羊杂割: Shanxi's mutton-offal soup, found everywhere, sometimes also called yangzasui.

Tips for visiting Shanxi Museum

• Entry must be booked in advance under your passport details through the museum's official WeChat account; tickets are released a few days ahead and go quickly at weekends and holidays.
• The museum is closed on Mondays except public holidays.
• The museum's separate bronze branch, in a lantern-shaped building in the Changfeng business district, needs no booking (bring your passport) and displays the chariot-and-horse pit from a Jin noble's tomb.

Nearby

• Jinci Temple 晋祠 20 km
  Song-dynasty halls, painted clay maidservants and a cross-shaped bridge at the Jin springs
• Qiao Family Compound 乔家大院 50 km
  Walled courtyards of a Qing merchant-banking family, the set for Raise the Red Lantern
• Pingyao Ancient City 平遥古城 80 km
  An intact Ming walled town of courtyard inns, where China's first draft banks were born
• Shuanglin Temple 双林寺 80 km
  Some 2,000 painted clay Buddhas, saints and guardians crowded into ten temple halls

Also within 30 km: Fen River Scenic Area 汾河景区 (under 10 km), China Coal Museum 中国煤炭博物馆 (under 10 km), Grand Guandi Temple, Taiyuan 大关帝庙 (under 10 km), Taiyuan Ancient Mosque 太原清真古寺 (under 10 km), Jin Merchants Museum (Former Shanxi Military Governor's Office) 山西督军府旧址 (under 10 km), Changjing Tower 唱经楼 (under 10 km).

On the map

Open Shanxi Museum on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it, what else is close, and to add it to a trip and plan the days.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)