Museum Exploration: Pingdingshan Museum, Henan Province

Pingdingshan Museum 平顶山博物馆

Address: southwest to the intersection of Huairen Road and Hongtu Road, Xinhua district, Pingdingshan city, Henan province 

Opening hours: 9:00 am -5:00 pm (Entry until 4:00 pm)

Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)

General admission: Free

A distant view of the Pingdingshan Museum in Central China’s Henan province [Photo/www.pdsm.org.cn]

Covering an area of 30,000 square meters, the Pingdingshan Museum is the largest public cultural facility with the most investment in Henan province. It was designed by the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University. Its majestic outlook is inspired by ancient bamboo slips to embody the communication function of the museum as a messenger of civilization that exudes ancient charms. In addition, evergreen trees and various peony flowers are planted around the museum.

Housing a collection of more than 30,000 artifacts and cultural relics and with its doors opened since 2012, the Pingdingshan Museum has received more than four million visitors.

It is a treasure chest where visitors can learn the long history of Pingdingshan’s profound cultural achievements, and plays an important role in building the image of the city and presenting its charms.

The No 1 Exhibition Hall of the Pingdingshan Museum displays cultural relics unearthed from the Lilou Site dating to the Neolithic era. [Photo/www.pdsm.org.cn]

The Pingdingshan Museum houses four exhibition halls. The No 1 Exhibition Hall showcases the Paleolithic and Neolithic civilization of the local area, including the Zhangwan Site, the Zhongshanzhai Site, the Hongshan Temple Site in Ruzhou city, the Lilou Site, and the Meishan Site, which form the prehistoric civilization in Pingdingshan and present the formation and development of Chinese civilization.

Unearthed cultural relics from Han tombs are exhibited at the Pingdingshan Museum. [Photo/www.pdsm.org.cn]

The No 3 Exhibition Hall consists of two sections. The first one shows cultural relics unearthed in tombs to present the culture and civilization of the ancient State of Chu (1115-223 BC) and its ruling over the ancient State of Ying (1046-1043 BC) during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The second one demonstrates the wisdom of the people in Pingdingshan during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) through a display of tomb items, smeltery objects, and steles.

The No 4 Exhibition Hall of the Pingdingshan Museum displays Chinese ceramics. [Photo/www.pdsm.org.cn]

The No 4 Exhibition Hall presents precious Chinese ceramics of the flourishing porcelain industry in Pingdingshan during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279).