Shaanxi History Museum

The Shaanxi History Museum opened in 1991 in a building styled after Tang palace architecture, not far from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Its halls hold some four hundred thousand objects found in the valley of the Wei river: bronzes of the Shang and Zhou eras, ceramics and gold of the Han and Tang, frescoes from princely tombs. The display is arranged chronologically, from the Stone Age to the Qing dynasty, and shows Xi'an as the capital of thirteen dynasties. Separate halls are given to Buddhist sculpture and to whole cave niches moved here with hundreds of figures. Tickets are issued in the visitor's name and are taken up several days ahead, and entry is by passport.

On the map