Ancient Wood Museum

Ancient Wood Museum

The Huzhou Ancient Wood Museum is nestled in the picturesque Taihu Lake Tourist Resort in Huzhou, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing water on one. It is a multifunctional exhibition hall that combines science education, forest culture showcasing, and ancient wood art appreciation.

The exhibits in the museum are displayed without carving, polishing, or coloring, maintaining their natural colors, textures, and unique forms. They exude an ancient charm, impressive grandeur, and showcase natural beauty, ancient beauty, rugged charm, and the beauty of life. Most of the collections are non-renewable world natural and cultural heritage items, possessing significant cultural appreciation and scientific research value.

Mr. Wu Xiaohong, a renowned Chinese collector of ancient wood and founder of the Oriental Plum Garden, dedicated his life’s efforts to exploring the landscapes of China. His footsteps have traversed the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Karakoram Mountains, southwestern forests, northwestern frontiers, Central Asian deserts, and the Thai-Myanmar border. After enduring countless hardships, he has now gathered these treasures in a single venue in southern China, composing a symphony of forest life. The museum currently houses over 1,000 rare pieces of ancient wood, presenting to the public the "Soul of the Forest," "Flower of the Forest," "Tragedy of the Forest," "Song of the Forest," and "Rhythm of the Forest." These displays feature silicified wood treasures formed from the Carboniferous to the Cretaceous periods (approximately 65 million years ago), as well as various marvels created by nature through the forces of the forest over centuries.

The so-called ancient wood refers to a general term for silicified wood (also known as petrified wood or tree jade), sunken wood (also called ghost wood or driftwood), and sacred wood (dead standing trees). These ancient woods were once towering trees in the forest. After undergoing the trials of geological eras—fire, earth burial, erosion by wind and time, and scouring by water—they have re-emerged today as spectacular works of art.

Approaching the ancient wood is like traveling through time, as if recreating the historical shadows of ancient mountains and rivers, experiencing the vast life ambiance of primordial wilderness, allowing people to once again grasp the true essence of the philosophy of “unity of man and nature, and following the way of nature,” and to jointly build a beautiful home where humans and nature coexist harmoniously.