Gansu Provincial Museum

The Gansu Provincial Museum stands at 3 Xijin West Road in Lanzhou's Qilihe District, Gansu province, China, and is the main repository for the province's archaeological and historical collections. The museum was founded in the 1950s and its main building is in a mid-century Soviet-influenced style, with a broad frontage and a central hall. Its permanent displays cover a span from Palaeolithic and Neolithic cultures to the Qing dynasty. Early rooms feature painted pottery of the Majiayao and Qijia cultures, whose swirling, geometric vessels count among the finest prehistoric ceramics in China. Later galleries follow the Silk Road, the Han garrisons of the Hexi Corridor and the Buddhist art of Dunhuang and the Hexi region. The best-known object is the Han-dynasty bronze Galloping Horse, popularly called the Flying Horse of Gansu, a bronze of a horse with one hoof balanced on a swallow, excavated in 1969 from a tomb at Wuwei. The museum also exhibits Han wooden and bamboo slips from frontier posts, painted tomb bricks from Wei and Jin tombs near Jiayuguan, and fossils including a Yellow River mammoth skeleton from Hezheng. The curatorial approach is chronological, with thematic rooms for ceramics, bronzes and Buddhist art, and many objects are paired with scale maps and explanatory panels. Gallery labels are in Chinese and English for major pieces, and audio guides are available in selected languages. The museum has undergone renovation programmes to modernise its climate control, lighting and security while keeping its original architecture. Admission is free, but visitors must reserve a time slot in advance through the official reservation system, and a valid identity document is checked at the entrance. A full visit takes about two to three hours.