As the first theme museum dedicating itself to exhibiting the Great Wall culture comprehensively and systematically in China, the Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum fully introduces the vicissitudes of the Great Wall from the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC) to the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) in the forms of schematic models, text descriptions and colorful pictures.This not only offers precious material objects to the Great Wall researchers, but it also enables visitors to have a general understanding of the Great Wall of China.
The simple but elegant Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum occupies an area of 12,312 square meters (132,525 square feet) with an exhibition area of about 1,766 square meters (19,009 square feet), which takes the shape of a typical signal fire tower on the Great Wall. More than 6,000 pieces of historical cultural relics are retained in the Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum; hence, it's praised as "the Textbook of Great Wall Culture".
The Museum Exhibitions
There are seven exhibition halls in the Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum, and the basic part of the exhibitions,entitled "the great Great Wall", is divided into four sections: the Great Wall in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC)and the Warring States Period(475 BC-221 BC), the Great Wall in the Qin (221 BC-206 BC)and the Han (206 BC-220)dynasties, the Great Wall in the Sui (581-618), the Tang (618-907), the Liao (916-1125)and the Jin (265-420)dynasties, and the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).
The 220.5-square-meter (2,373-square-feet) oil painting entitled "the Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall" fully shows the main attractions along the Great Wall by combining the liberal style and the realistic style, andis the biggest one of its kind in north-west China.
In addition, the Ancient Chinese Weaponry Exhibition, the Jiayuguan Cultural Relics Exhibition, the Famous People's Calligraphy and Painting Works Exhibition,and the Great Wall History and Culture Exhibition are also available in the museum. The Great Wall History and Culture Exhibition is composed of four parts:the Evolution of the Great Wall, Ancient Wars along the Great Wall, Hexi Great Wall and the Silk Road, and the Magnificent Jiayuguan Pass. It includes 121 exhibition boards, 142 photos, 20 Great Wall models, 242 cultural relics, and 11 three-dimensional sculptures and some relief sculptures, which are highlighted by the Great Wall badges and bronze cannons made in the Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Location: west of Xinhua South Road, Jiayuguan City, Gansu Province
Transportation: a taxiwill take you there from Jiayuguan city center
Opening times: 8:30 am to 6:30 pm in summer and autumn;
8:30 am to 6:30 pm in winter and spring
