Lianyungang Museum

Lianyungang Museum

Lianyungang Museum serves as a science education base and a patriotic education base.

Lianyungang Museum is situated at the western end of the tranquil Cangwu Road, occupying 32 mu of land with a total construction area of 4,105 square meters. It houses a collection of more than 16,000 cultural relics, including nearly 8,000 classified ones. The museum currently has 30 employees, with 5 holding senior professional titles, 13 intermediate, and 7 junior. Over the past nearly 50 years, it has gradually developed into a museum featuring various thematic exhibitions in history, nature, and art. Among them, the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall showcases the splendid culture of Lianyungang from the Paleolithic Age 10,000 to 20,000 years ago to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ruggedness of prehistoric times, the solemnity of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties, and the refinement of the Ming and Qing periods are all vividly displayed here. Especially noteworthy are China’s earliest and most complete prefectural-level administrative documents—the bamboo slips from the Yinwan Han Tomb—and the stunningly exquisite embroidery, which leave visitors in awe. Strolling through the exhibits feels like traveling back in time, offering an up-close encounter with civilizations of centuries past, making it an experience visitors won’t want to end.

The Yanhan Art Gallery is a center dedicated to collection, exhibition, and research. Yanhan is a renowned contemporary Chinese print artist who captured the grand history of New China with his epic brushwork. The “Victory Crossing the Yangtze River” relief on the Monument to the People's Heroes was designed and created by him, a source of immense pride for his hometown.

In recent years, Lianyungang Museum has achieved remarkable success in archaeological excavations and research. Notably, the cliff carvings of Kongwang Mountain and the rock paintings of General Cliff have stunned audiences both at home and abroad. The significant 2002 archaeological discovery of the Western Han female corpse in Shuanglong, Haizhou, caused a worldwide sensation. The Tenghualuo Neolithic village site was named one of China’s Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of the Year 2000. It is the first prehistoric site in China discovered to have both inner and outer city walls, as well as the first Longshan Culture-period city site found in Jiangsu Province, holding great value for the study of the origins of civilization. Excavations at the Kongwang Mountain site have clearly revealed it to be the earliest preserved Taoist site in China and the birthplace of Taoism in the country, which is of great significance to the study of religious history.

In 2002, Lianyungang Museum hosted over 20 temporary exhibitions of various types. Among them, the patriotic education-themed special exhibitions “The Glorious Journey—Photo Exhibition from the 1st to the 15th National Congress of the CPC” and “Yanhan’s Life and Artworks Exhibition” received strong responses from all sectors of society.

In recent years, our museum has been successively honored as a “Jiangsu Patriotic Education Base,” “Jiangsu School Moral Education Base,” “Jiangsu Science Education Base,” “Jiangsu Youth Science and Technology Education Demonstration Base,” and one of the “Top Ten Patriotic Education Bases in Lianyungang.”

In 2002, our museum was recognized as an Advanced Collective in the Provincial Cultural System and an Advanced Collective in Municipal Cultural Work. It was also commended by the municipal government as a Meritorious Unit for the protection of the female corpse from the Shuanglong Han Tomb.

As the old museum could no longer meet the needs of the development of museology, in 2002 the city decided to construct a modern comprehensive museum with an area of 13,000 square meters in the Xinchang New District. Currently, planning, design, land acquisition, and other tasks have been largely completed, and construction is scheduled to begin in June 2003. Upon completion, the existing museum at No. 35 Cangwu Road will be relocated there. The new museum will not only feature relatively fixed permanent exhibitions such as historical relics, natural specimens, the Western Han female corpse, and the Yinwan bamboo slips but will also include spacious temporary exhibition halls dedicated to showcasing various types of exhibitions, including calligraphy, paintings, art, and handicrafts.

Address: No. 68 Chaoyang East Road, Xinchang District, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province

Type: Museum

Recommended visiting time: 1–2 hours

Phone: 0518-85681790

Official website: http://www.lygmuseum.com/

Opening hours:

Tuesday–Sunday: 9:00–16:00 (extended to 17:00 in summer); last entry at 15:30 (16:30 in summer). Closed on Mondays for maintenance, fully closed on Lunar New Year’s Eve, otherwise open as usual.

Ticket information:

Free admission.

Further reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China