The Shanxi Provincial Museum (Shanxi sheng bowuguan) houses a large collection of exhibits that attempt to detail the history and culture of this famous province. The museum itself is a large, ancient complex that is built in traditional style, with courtyards encircled by buildings of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) type. The museum is divided into two parts.

The original site where part 1 now lies used to be occupied by the Confucius Temple (Kong miao) that was built in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 AD). The exhibition halls here all still retain there original names, with rooms such as the Hall of Great Success (Dacheng dian) and the Memorial Hall (Chongsheng ci) now housing an array of artifacts. Part 1 concentrates more on the provinces early history as one of the cradles of the Chinese civilisation, although there are a number of photographs and artifacts highlighting Shanxi's more recent history. The older objects (some neolithic) were mostly excavated or removed from ancient tombs and ruins.

The second part of the museum, probably the more interesting of the two, used to be called Chunyang Palace (Chunyang gong) and was a temple where people offered sacrifice and paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) Taoist priest, Lu Dongbin. Housed in the halls here are collections of historical literature, as well as all kinds of ancient cultural relics, including Shang Dynasty bronzes, ceramics, carvings & embroidery, that were unearthed in the province. The palace itself was built by the early 1600s, but was renovated and restored a number of times in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD).

Address: Part 1 is just off Jianshe beilu, northeast of Wuyi Square (Wuyi guangchang); Part 2 lies on Qifeng jie, a little way northwest of the square.
How to get Provincial Museum : From the railway station, bus No.5 goes directly there.
Opening hours: 08:00-17:00.
Cost: RMB10.