Wuyishan Museum

Wuyishan Museum

Wuyishan Museum is located on the north bank of the First Bend Wharf of the Nine-Bend Stream, within the Song-style Ancient Street of Wuyi Palace. It is a two-story pavilion-style building modeled after Song Dynasty architecture, with a floor area of 1,400 square meters, serving as an important window for promoting Wuyishan City. The site offers a vast, clear view over the river, rippling blue waters, and distant crimson peaks, making it one of Wuyishan’s major scenic spots.

Wuyishan Museum is a regional comprehensive museum with a rich collection, particularly notable for its boat coffins, hanging coffin planks, stone tools, bronzeware, ancient ceramics, calligraphy, and paintings.

Wuyishan Museum consists of three exhibition halls and corresponding supporting facilities.

The Historical Culture Exhibition Room has two floors, each with a 240-square-meter exhibition hall. The downstairs hall presents the first part of the historical culture exhibition — “The Dawn of Human History,” showcasing the early development of Wuyishan from the 21st century BC up to the Qin Shi Huang's unification of China in 221 BC. Major exhibits include a replica of the No.1 Boat Coffin from the Cliff, hanging coffin planks and burial items, Neolithic stone tools such as axes, arrowheads, net sinkers, as well as models of Neolithic sites and scaled-down representations of boat coffin burials, along with large photos. The upstairs hall is divided into three sections: “The Rise of the Minyue Kingdom City,” “The Heyday of Neo-Confucian Culture,” and “The Charm of Rock Tea,” displaying the distinctive Minyue culture, Neo-Confucian culture, and rock tea culture of Wuyishan. Main exhibits include a model of the Minyue Kingdom City, pottery and ironware unearthed from the Han Dynasty Minyue site, black-glazed cups from the Yulin Pavilion Kiln of the Song Dynasty, and various cultural relics from the Western Han to the Qing Dynasty.

The Natural Exhibition Hall spans 140 square meters and is divided into four sections: “Wuyishan Belongs to the World,” “Emerald Waters and Crimson Peaks,” “A Window on World Biodiversity,” and “Keeping Wuyishan Evergreen.” It showcases the area’s stunning natural scenery and abundant resources through numerous photos and plant and animal specimens. The museum also features a “Wuyi Crafts” exhibition hall, which displays and sells antiques, jade artifacts, calligraphy, and paintings.

“Mysteries of Wuyi Culture” focuses on three golden eras of the region: the ancient Yue tribal culture symbolized by boat coffins (around 3,800 years ago), the Western Han culture marked by the ancient city of Chengcun (over 2,000 years ago), and the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian culture represented by Zhu Xi (about 800 years ago). The exhibit selects the finest cultural relics to present the long and rich history and culture of Wuyishan in a vivid and visual way.

The museum was originally the Cultural Relics Room of the Wuyishan City Cultural Center. In 1992, a new museum was built on the former site of the Confucian Temple in downtown Wuyishan and officially opened in February 1993, at which time the Cultural Relics Room was dissolved and its collections transferred to the museum. The museum had a total investment of 1.4 million yuan, covering an area of 2,400 square meters with a built-up area of 1,500 square meters. It is a five-story reinforced concrete building with an antique design, housing six exhibition rooms and supporting facilities such as a cultural relics storage room. The collection includes over 600 cultural relics from the late Neolithic period to the end of the Qing Dynasty, among which 525 were appraised by experts from the Fujian Provincial Department of Culture. This includes six second-grade national relics and 474 third-grade relics. In 1996, to expand outreach and allow more domestic and international visitors to learn about Wuyishan, the museum was relocated to its current site and officially opened to the public on May 1, 1996. The original building was transferred to the Wuyishan City Library.

From November 1998 to March 1999, the museum underwent a comprehensive renovation and upgrade to support Wuyishan’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage status, adopting advanced display methods and enhanced protective measures. The plaque at the museum entrance bears the name “Wuyishan City Museum,” inscribed by the late Zhao Puchu, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The couplet on either side of the gate is taken from the poem of Cai Shangsi, a renowned contemporary historian and professor at Fudan University in Shanghai: “Ancient Chinese culture — Mount Tai and Wuyi.”

Admission

Free

Opening Hours

8:30–11:30, 14:30–17:30

Closed on Mondays

Location

Song-style Ancient Street, Wuyishan City, Fujian Province

Wuyishan Scenic Area

Dahongpao Scenic Area

Da’anyuan Ecotourism Area

China Wuyishan Tea Expo Park

Nine-Bend Stream

Qinglong Waterfall

Wuyi Wisteria Self-Drive Theme Park

Wuyishan Water Curtain Cave

Great King Peak

Wuyishan One-Line Sky

Wuyi Palace

Tiger Roaring Rock

Yunwo

Jade Valley of Wuyi Mountain

Site of the Imperial Tea Garden

Yulong Valley

Chengcun Han City Ruins

Liu Yong Memorial Hall