Xikou Museum

Xikou Museum

The Xikou Museum (XikouMuseum) was established in the spring of 1988. It originally used the Wushan Temple, a scenic site in Xikou, as its first location and was a thematic museum dedicated to the folk customs of eastern Zhejiang. With the approval of the Fenghua Municipal Government, the Xikou Tourism Group funded the construction of a new building for the museum on the west side of the "Yutai Salt Shop" along West Wuling Road. In March 2009, the new museum entered a trial opening phase, and on February 2, 2010, it officially opened to the public. The name of the museum was inscribed by Mr. Chiang Wei-kuo.

Covering an area of 2,250 square meters, the museum building has a construction area of 5,500 square meters and an exhibition space of over 3,000 square meters, with a total investment of 25.5 million yuan. The museum is divided into four permanent exhibition halls: "Fairyland Snow Valley – A Cultural Exploration of the ‘First Sacred Mountain of Siming’", "Misty Wuling – Interpretation of the History of the Chiang Family", "Scenic Yan Source – Folk Customs of the Republican Era", and "Treasures of Legacy – A Collection of Fine Cultural Relics". In addition, to integrate permanent and temporary exhibitions, the new building also features a temporary exhibition hall that regularly hosts diverse themed exhibitions. The Xikou Museum showcases the thousand-year history of Xikou through a wealth of precious cultural relics. It serves as an important cultural institution in Fenghua City, integrating artifact collection, exhibition, research, and academic exchange.

Entrance Hall

Displays a miniature model of Xikou’s three-mile-long street; introduces the history of Xikou, its scenery, and the specialties of Fenghua. Exhibits include 47 artifacts such as Neolithic stone tools unearthed in Fenghua, as well as bronze, pottery, and porcelain items from the Tang and Song dynasties, along with physical displays introducing the scenery of Xikou and local products of Fenghua.

Festival Customs Hall

Reflects the folk characteristics of the Jiangnan region, using wax figures, models, and scene reconstructions to comprehensively depict the lunar calendar festivals from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve. It particularly highlights the grandeur of the Dao Hua Hui (Rice Flower Festival), whose ceremonial boat drum is a treasured piece of the city’s arts and crafts and classified as a valuable cultural relic. The hall also introduces the handicrafts of Fenghua City, including bamboo veneerware, bamboo root carvings, wooden bead door curtains, rosewood inlays, glass lacquer paintings, small animal models, bamboo weaving, embroidery, and folding fans.

Marriage Customs Hall

Displays implements used in traditional marriage ceremonies in the Jiangnan region, with notable highlights including the “Thousand-Worker Bed” and the “Ten-Thousand-Worker Sedan.” It focuses on the customs and traditions of the Xikou and Ningbo areas, serving as a key section of the museum. The content mainly covers festival customs and wedding traditions, showcasing 49 physical exhibits. Among them, the ceremonial boat drum, bridal sedan, thousand-worker bed, and stage-drum set are exquisitely carved and finely inlaid. The boat drum features elaborate carvings of multi-storied pavilions, figures, flowers, and birds, making it a rare masterpiece among large traditional craftworks.

Cultural Relics Collection

Boat Drum

The boat drum is a large-scale folk craft used during guild processions.

This boat drum measures 250 cm in length, 82 cm in width, and 270 cm in height. The entire structure is crafted from materials including boxwood carving, red-lacquered wood carving, bone carving, metal carving, bone-and-wood inlay, and painted glass. The front features a dragon head and sea waves, the sides display 19 lions playing with a ball, cranes and deer symbolizing longevity, and dragons and phoenixes representing harmony, while the back shows a phoenix playing with peonies.

The upper part of the boat has 10 tiers, each with railings inlaid with floral patterns. The hanging panels are carved from bleached red bone slices into thundercloud, meander, and diamond motifs in black-and-white contrast, creating a striking visual effect.

The first to third tiers each contain 40 boxwood carved panels of varying sizes depicting scenes. The first tier shows local people’s daily life, including spring plowing, returning in the rain, hoeing fields, and dragon boat celebrations. The second tier portrays official life, featuring processions, returning home in glory, and trials in government courts. The third tier features characters from the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The fourth to eighth tiers depict various birds, beasts, flowers, and plants, with painted glass shining brilliantly. The ninth tier represents the “Ten Kings of Hell,” promoting moral conduct and discouraging wrongdoing. The top section features pavilions and towers ranging from 30 to 60 cm in height, forming a rigorously structured ancient architectural complex.

There is a story behind this boat drum. One year, during the “Dao Hua Hui” (held when rice flowers bloom to pray for a good harvest) in Fenghua County, the procession extended from the city to the outskirts. Villagers from Shizhu Village north of the city came to watch the excitement. A child, enthralled by the event, was accidentally pushed and fell. Upon returning home, the child cried to his mother. The mother, a widow who traditionally could not join in the festivities, was driven by love for her son and a desire to uphold her dignity. She sold 20 acres of farmland, hired skilled craftsmen, and spent several years creating what became the finest boat drum in Fenghua.

In 1963, Shizhu Village presented this treasure to the county cultural center, which later transferred it to the Xikou Museum. It is now a national first-class cultural relic.

Plaque of Universal Compassion and Love

In 1918, Chiang Kai-shek was rising in prominence within the Guangdong military government and was highly regarded by Sun Yat-sen. That year, Sun Yat-sen inscribed a plaque for Chiang’s mother with the words “Universal Compassion and Love.” In 1990, the Xikou Museum rediscovered this plaque. At the time, it was being used as the door to a ancestral hall warehouse. Zhou Jin kang, director of the Xikou Museum, remarked, “Shortly after this plaque was acquired by the museum, the ancestral hall was destroyed by fire. What a close call!”

Inauguration Memorial Medal

This copper commemorative medal for the “Inauguration” of Dr. Sun Yat-sen has a diameter of 76 mm, a thickness of 4.8 mm, and weighs 156 grams. The obverse features a bas-relief of Sun Yat-sen’s portrait, while the reverse shows designs of the memorial hall and the approach to his mausoleum.

The medal’s owner is Wang Guilu, a collector from Nanjing. Mr. Wang has visited Xikou many times and became close friends with Zhou Jinkang, the museum director. To ensure his collection would be preserved and shared with the world, the Xikou Museum became the new home for most of his pieces. He also donated other valuable Republic-era artifacts such as founding-era ink sticks and bricks from Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum.

Various Grain Coupons

The first floor of the Xikou Museum houses the “China’s First Grain Coupon Museum,” which displays over 4,000 grain coupons ranging from the era of the Hongwu Emperor in the Ming Dynasty to those phased out in the 1990s. These were donated by Wang Shishui, China’s foremost collector of grain coupons. Among the most precious items are rare historical grain vouchers such as land rent rice tickets from the first year of the Hongwu era, provisional rice tickets from the Chinese Soviet Government, rice borrowing certificates from the Red Army, New Fourth Army rice coupons from the War of Resistance period, and travel grain coupons from liberated areas.

Mr. Wang Shishui is a retired official from the Fenghua Grain Bureau. He began collecting grain coupons in 1955 and has amassed over 10,000 of them.

These grain coupons hold both historical and aesthetic value. Some feature images of scenic spots, such as the Six Harmonies Pagoda, others highlight regional characteristics—like a Shanxi coupon printed with a coal mine—and some showcase exquisite figure designs, such as a Xinjiang coupon featuring dancing Kazakh girls.

Visiting Information

Opening Hours: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Transportation: Take a minibus from Ningbo South Bus Station to Xikou (fare: 12 RMB), then take a local taxi (fare: 5 RMB) to Xikou Scenic Area. The Xikou Museum is located on the west side of the main attraction “Yutai Salt Shop” on Wuling West Road.

Ticket Price: Tickets are not sold separately; the Xikou Scenic Area combo ticket applies.

Address: No. 159, Wuling West Road, Xikou Town, Fenghua City, Ningbo

Type: Museum

Recommended Visit Duration: 1–2 hours

Phone: 0574-88869776

Opening Hours:

Winter: 8:00–16:30; Summer: 7:45–17:30

Ticket Information:

No separate ticket required. Included in the Xikou Scenic Area general admission ticket.

Further Reading:

· China National Third-Class Museum