The Silk Route Museum () is located in
Jiuquan
Jiuquan, formerly known as Suzhou is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It is more than wide from east to west, occupying , although its built-up area is mostly located in it ...
,
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
Province along the
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
, a trading route connecting
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, used by
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
. It is also built over the tomb of the Xiliang King in Gansu Province.
Founded by Mei Ping Wu and staffed by volunteers, the museum is dedicated to the fostering of an enhanced understanding between East and West.
The museum opened in October 2009 and is dedicated to the history of the ancient Silk Road. The museum holds in trust a collection of rare and historical artifacts dating to the time of the original Silk Road.
The museum houses an exhibition area of over 100,000 square feet which includes over 35,000 pieces from the Jade Road collection, a substantial subterranean art gallery, the Wei Jin Tombs, as well as historical sites from the
Hexi Corridor
The Hexi Corridor ( ), also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and relatively arable plain west of the Yellow River's O ...
of ancient China.
Exhibits
Exhibitions include displays of art, tools, and fossils covering the Jiuquan period, and the earliest evidence of central Asian civilization. In the Xiliang Hall, master pieces of jade work of Neolithic origin. A jade market open to local and outside traders, as well as, auctions and the Moon Light Cup of Jiuquan.
The show pieces possess the characteristics from the pre-historical culture to
Ming
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...
and
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
dynasties and represent the history, politics, economy, science and technology, cultural arts, husbandry production, religious belief and daily customs from thousands of years ago.
See also
*
List of museums in China
, there are 5,788 museums in China, including 3,054 state-owned museums (museums run by national and local government or universities) and 535 private museums. In 2021, the nation's museums saw approximately 779 million visitors. Some museums of ...
References
External links
Museum website
Museums established in 2009
Decorative arts museums in China
Museums in Gansu
Fossil museums
Silk Road
2009 establishments in China
Paleontology in Gansu
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