Should visitors desire to know the initial history of Beijing, they won't want to miss visiting the Museum of West Zhou Yandu Relics. 'Yandu' is an old name for Beijing in the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-771 BC). The discovery of the West Zhou Yandu Relics marks a silent but brilliant history of Beijing serving as an important city in China for over 3,000 years. Being celebrated as the Origin of Beijing, the site of West Zhou Yandu Relics is situated at Dongjialin County in Fangshan District. It is about 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) distance from downtown Beijing. In addition, this museum is a professional archaeological one, combining both cultural relics and antiquities in China.
The Museum of West Zhou Yandu Relics is built to the east wall of the site of the West Zhou Yandu Relics, covering an area of 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres). The main color of this traditional Chinese building is reddish-brown, standing for the aesthetic awareness of the Western Zhou people. The walls of the four sides are, without exception, as white as moonlight. This kind of coordination of color makes the museum a serious and magnificent, holy place. In front of this museum stands a huge screen wall with a marble surface, at each side of which are two pavilions.
The main theme of the display in this museum is the splendid culture of ancient Beijing. The museum comprises four units: seven exhibition halls, cultural relics' storerooms, two groups of Yandu graves preserved as original as possible, along with two pits of chariots and horses where the slaves were buried alive, along with the dead. Displayed in the exhibition halls are bronze sacrificial vessels, wine sets, and weapons. Pottery, jade, and lacquer are also on show. These exhibits mainly introduce this ancient city to the visitor and display the cultural relics excavated from the graves of the Western Zhou nobles.
Excavated from the graves are a large number of precious mortuary objects, including chaises, stone axes, bone arrows, bronzes, pottery, jade, stone and carnelian. Jin Tripod, the biggest of all the bronzes found in Beijing is also presented here. These priceless treasures altogether demonstrate the extraordinary creativity of the ancient Chinese people and record the contribution they made toward the progress of human history.
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Admission Fee:
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Free
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Opening Hours:
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09:00-15:30
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Closed on Mondays
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Bus Route:
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917 Zhi (Tianqiao Long Distance Bus Station-Hancunhe), and get off at Shangzhou Yizhi, then you could arrive at the Museum of West Zhou Yandu Relics.
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Beijing Historical Sites:
