Nine Halls and Three Centers

Nine Halls and Three Centers

The "Nine Halls and Three Centers" attraction, located on the west side of Tiekeqi Bridge in Swan River Scenic Area, is set to become Korla City’s future urban administrative and civic activity hub. These nine halls and three centers include the Prefecture and Municipal Administrative Service Centers, Real Estate Transaction Center, and Digital Urban Management Command Center; as well as the Folk Culture Museum, Archives, Planning Exhibition Hall, Comprehensive Exhibition Hall, Science and Technology Museum, Art Gallery, Library, Party History and Local Chronicles Museum, Cultural Center, and more. Together they encompass the fundamental municipal facilities of a city. The "Nine Halls and Three Centers" showcase Korla’s history, culture, and technological development, housing world-class, national-level, and autonomous region-level cultural heritage and scientific achievements. Currently, some of the venues are open to the public.

1. Folk Culture Museum

The Korla Folk Culture Museum is situated on the west side of Swan River Scenic Area, in the southern urban district of Korla, west of Yan’an Road and south of Kala Su Road, with a total construction area of 5,480 square meters. The building consists of one basement level and four above-ground floors. The first floor lobby serves as a space for visitor reception, press conferences, and small academic meetings; the second floor houses the Intangible Heritage — Mongolian Saurndon Inheritance Exhibition Center; the third floor is home to the Intangible Heritage — Uyghur Sanam Inheritance Exhibition Center; and the fourth floor is the core area of the Korla Folk Culture Museum, featuring a permanent exhibition hall, a temporary exhibition hall, and staff offices.

The permanent exhibition hall of the Folk Culture Museum is themed “By the Peacock River, Home of Pear Trees.” Through three sections — “By the Peacock River, Home of Pear Trees,” “Swans Fly Here and Never Want to Leave,” and “Festive Celebrations, Prayers for Blessings” — and six units: Tracing Origins at Xihai, Windows and Doors of Every Home, Vibrant Colors in Dyeing and Weaving, Attire Displaying Graceful Styles, Rich Flavors of Food and Drink, and Life’s Harmony in Etiquette — it uses scenario simulation, physical displays, computer animations, and other methods to comprehensively present the production and daily customs of various ethnic groups living along the Peacock River, as well as the spiritual character shaped by these folk traditions. This allows the people of Korla’s various ethnicities to take pride in their culture and draws inspiration for an even brighter spirit.

The second-floor exhibition of Mongolian Saurndon and the third-floor display of Korla Sanam are both national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. By establishing two intangible heritage inheritance centers, the museum better promotes these treasures, helping to further preserve and develop Mongolian Saurndon and Korla Sanam.

The permanent exhibition hall of the Korla Folk Culture Museum highlights ethnic characteristics, mainly showcasing the production and daily life aspects — clothing, food, housing, and transportation — of the Han, Hui, Uyghur, and Mongolian peoples, with distinct ethnic features. Scene displays such as Hui weddings, Mongolian Naadam festivals, and Uyghur Sanam dances represent the most iconic elements of their respective cultures. The permanent exhibition also emphasizes folk characteristics. For example, displays of Uyghur carpets and printed cloth reflect the community’s superb dyeing skills. Uyghur carpet weaving, printed cloth craftsmanship, printed felt making, and Adras silk production are all national-level intangible cultural heritage items. Additionally, to ensure authenticity, the museum maintains strict standards for displayed items. For instance, furnishings in the Han and Hui traditional rooms are original pieces from the Qing Dynasty and Republican era. The exhibition also spotlights regional characteristics. Using the Peacock River as a link, the museum introduces its source, important sites like Bosten Lake and Iron Gate Pass, traditional leatherworking crafts along the river, Korla’s famous Korla pears, and distinctive arts such as reed paintings. These scenes and artifacts all carry strong regional identities.

The museum exhibits over 500 folk items (including one from the Song Dynasty, 66 from the Qing Dynasty, 200 from the Republican era, and over 200 from modern times), comprising clothing, embroidery, textile tools, various utensils, furniture, musical instruments, and production tools — essentially covering all aspects of daily life. Among them, Han Chinese embroidery, ethnic costumes, and Uyghur artifacts are especially numerous and exquisitely crafted.

2. Planning Exhibition Hall

The Korla Planning Exhibition Hall, part of the "Nine Halls and Three Centers," is a core venue and main functional area of the Korla Exhibition Center. Construction began in September 2012, with a total floor area of 12,000 square meters. The hall has three levels, divided into three sections: Impressions of Pear City, Insights into Pear City, and Visions for Pear City. It includes 18 sub-exhibition areas such as Pear City’s Past, Blueprint Framework, and Focus on People’s Livelihood. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the ancient yet vibrant urban cultural character of Korla, a key Silk Road town known as the “Pearl Beyond the Frontier, the Scenic Pear City by the Mountains and Waters,” showcases the achievements of Korla’s planning and construction development, and envisions a bright future for the city.

This section highlights care from leaders at all levels, the Pearl Beyond the Frontier, Pear City’s past, Pear City stories, and the scenic nature of Pear City. It presents the natural landscape of “Pear City” through geographical location, climate, terrain, hydrology, soil, vegetation, as well as notable achievements like population size, the New Silk Road Economic Belt, and gross domestic product, emphasizing Korla’s urban development philosophy and strengthening the guiding role of planning. In the hall, visitors can observe the urban transformation of Korla through physical sand tables, panoramic paintings, and virtual-real models using cutting-edge modern technology. The city’s intangible cultural heritage exhibition area features a restored model of the ancient Loulan City and holographic projections of some intangible cultural heritage items. In the Scenic Pear City section, visitors can walk along a virtual-real Peacock River landscape corridor to see real scenes of the Peacock, Azalea, and Swan Rivers in Korla. In the dynamic virtual tour area, guests can experience horseback riding across the Bayinbuluke Grassland, hot air balloon rides over the scenic Bosten Lake, and desert jeep tours across desert highways with close-up views of the sandy landscape.

This section interprets the grand blueprint of Korla’s urban and rural development, including the Blueprint Framework, Industrial Support, Basic Guarantees, Quality Services, and Integrated Urban-Rural Development zones. It displays Korla’s master urban plan, industrial plans, infrastructure plans, public service facility plans, and township and village plans. Guided by higher-level regional and prefectural system plans, it positions and focuses on Korla within a broader spatiotemporal context.

This section fully presents the city’s recent urban construction plans, comprehensive transportation planning, science education, housing and community development plans, the “Three Rivers Connectivity” shantytown redevelopment project, ecological conservation, smart city initiatives, and more.

The Korla Planning Exhibition Hall employs modern technology, integrating curved-screen sand painting, 360-degree holographic imaging, multi-channel projection, virtual tours, virtual telescopes, aerial imaging, augmented reality, and a 4D dynamic multimedia theater. It is a comprehensive exhibition hall that combines planning displays, science education, specialty tourism, and archive access. As an open venue for people of all ethnicities, the hall fully showcases and highlights the ancient yet youthful urban cultural character of Korla, the “Pearl Beyond the Frontier, the Scenic Pear City by the Mountains and Waters,” a key Silk Road town. It thoroughly presents Korla’s urban evolution and development achievements, while envisioning a bright future for the city.