Gansu Provincial Museum

Lanzhou as the capital of Gansu Province has a thousand-year history. It is closely related to the Hwang Ho, often called the Yellow River, while the region around it is considered a source of Chinese civilization. Indeed, the archaeological study of Gansu Province has given a myriad of discoveries to the world. Today, the region's history can be traced by visiting the Gansu Provincial Museum, located in the center of Lanzhou.

The oldest artifacts are displayed in its Department of Paleontology: fossil plant specimens, dinosaur bones, animal and leaf contours printed on the stones, and so on. The four exhibition halls represent such periods as the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and the Cenozoic Era. The Museum also has the Department of Anthropology to represent the prehistoric people who inhabited the area of the Hwang Ho River thousands of years ago.

The Gansu Province is considered the place where Chinese painted pottery originated from. The Museum displays the pottery of different shapes, colors and technique. Moreover, the oldest museum artifacts belong to the Neolithic period - more than 6,000 years before our era. In general, ceramics exhibition covers a period of 8,000 years, and boggles imagination with amazing beauty, elegance and richness of the potters’ fantasy.

Special attention should be given to the “Great Silk Road” Hall, featuring over 420 exhibits belonging to medieval China’s trade relations with western countries. Because it is Lanzhou that is considered one of the starting points from which Chinese silk was exported to Europe. This department is also represented by gold, silver and bronze ware, tools, silk fabrics, glassware and other rare items.

All in all, the Gansu Provincial Museum has collected over 350 exhibits, which cover almost the entire history of the region. Furthermore, on a regular basis, it arranges temporary exhibitions of collections from other museums of China. So, to learn the Chinese history and culture will be best to visit this museum. It should be mentioned that doing of all this wealth can take a whole day.