Niya Cultural Relics Museum

　　The Niya Cultural Relics Museum is a comprehensive exhibition hall that centers around a long history and rich culture, combining physical exhibits, photographic evidence, and textual descriptions. With generous donations from the renowned scholar and Japanese friend, Mr. Yasunori Kojima, it was completed in January 1999 and covers an area of 1,000 square meters. Within its 600-square-meter main exhibition hall, there are six exhibition sections: a photo gallery showcasing the 50-year development of Minfeng, a display of cultural relics unearthed from nationally key protected sites (the Niya and Andir ruins) along with their photo panels, a room featuring ethnic lifestyle and daily-use items, a display of tools used in the “August 18” Water Conservancy Project along with related photos, a photo gallery commemorating visits to Minfeng County by central and regional leaders, and a display introducing the natural medicinal plant Tamarix with Cistanche tubulosa (known as “Red Willow Cistanche”) through photos. Historical artifacts are displayed indoors. The museum receives over 1,000 visitors annually from both China and abroad. Within Minfeng County, there are two national key cultural relics protection units and four county-level ones. In 1995, silk fabric unearthed from the ancient city of Niya bearing the Chinese characters “五星出东方利中国” (Five Stars Appear in the East, Benefiting China) was discovered—an exquisite piece among silk artifacts (a national first-class relic)—which has since been collected by the National Museum of China.