Baoji: Bronze Culture, Shigu Park and Industrial History

Baoji reveals a wide range of cultural histories: bronze objects from the Zhou and Qin periods, evidence of industrial history and regional folk culture. Chinese Shigu Park also combines cultural and ecological parkland, garden visits and leisure activities. If you want to plan your trip around the experiences on offer, these places offer different highlights—from historical exhibitions to views of the Qinling Mountains, the Wei River and the city.

Bronze Culture at the Baoji Bronzeware Museum

The Baoji Bronzeware Museum is located at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, on the south bank of the Wei River, within the Chinese Shigu Park state-level 4A tourist area. It focuses on collecting, researching and exhibiting the bronze culture of the Zhou and Qin periods. The permanent exhibition “Bronze Cast Civilization” takes visitors through four galleries: “Land of Bronze Vessels,” “Land of Zhou Rites,” “Path of the Qin Beginnings” and “Light of Wisdom.” On display are more than 1,100 high-quality bronze objects excavated in Baoji. This lets you explore the exhibition by theme and period, rather than simply viewing individual objects side by side.

The museum has set opening hours: it is closed on Mondays and open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Last admission is at 4:30 p.m. Advance reservations through the museum’s WeChat account are requested. The museum is under the Baoji Cultural Relics Bureau, is a museum at the directly administered county-level, and is classified as a national first-class museum.

Shigu Park: Exhibitions, Gardens and Views

Chinese Shigu Park is located on Shigu Mountain in Baoji’s Weibin District. The site is associated with the Shigu stone drums, described as “China’s first ancient cultural relic.” The park covers 462 mu, with green spaces accounting for more than 87 percent of its area. Its offerings include cultural relic exhibitions, presentations on Shigu culture, garden visits and leisure activities. Alongside the museum collection, the park’s cultural and ecological landscape is a central feature.

A notable feature of the park is the Chen Cang Shigu Pavilion. The 56.9-meter-high pavilion follows an architectural style from the Qin and Han periods and covers 7,200 m². Inside, visitors can see the Shigu stone drums and research findings on Shigu culture. Visitors can climb the pavilion and enjoy views of the Qinling Mountains, the landscape along the Wei River and the city. Those particularly interested in Shigu culture will therefore find both exhibits and views of these landscapes here.

Industrial History and Regional Culture

Changle Yuan Anti-Japanese Industrial Heritage is a protected industrial wartime heritage site surrounding the former location of the Shenxin Textile Factory, founded in 1938. The site includes, among other places, the Cave Factory, the Fuxin-Shenxin Administration Building, Lenong Villa and the Shell Workshop. During the War of Resistance against Japan, the Cave Factory was the largest underground factory. It produced large quantities of cotton yarn and cotton fabric for military and civilian use, making an important contribution to victory in the War of Resistance. Phase I of the site is on Bao-Shi Road in Jintai District.

Changle Yuan’s current designations also reflect its historical importance as industrial heritage: it has been recognized as a nationally significant cultural relic protection unit, a first-batch national industrial heritage site, a first-batch provincial-level cultural experience park in Shaanxi, and a patriotic education site. The various buildings and protection categories give a visit a different focus from the Bronze Age collections.

If you are interested in stone inscriptions, you can also include the Stele Forest of Jintai Temple in Baoji as another cultural site. It is considered to have the greatest variety of collected stone inscriptions within Baoji’s urban area. The site covers 150 m², was built in two phases over two years, and contains 116 stone inscriptions.

The Baoji Folk Museum’s permanent exhibition is devoted to “Baoji Folk Culture.” It is divided into the sections “West Fu Life” and “Baoji Customs,” presenting the region’s customs and cultural heritage through collection objects, multimedia presentations and reconstructed scenes. The specialist museum collects, displays and researches regional folk culture. Its building has a floor area of around 8,179.91 m² and an exhibition area of approximately 3,361 m²; its collection comprises around 1,252 exhibits or groups of exhibits. The building has four floors, with some sections rising to five floors.

Xifu Old Street in Jintai District, on Beipo-Shengliyuan, is a 4A-rated tourist area, a characteristic street for intangible cultural heritage, and a provincial-level tourist leisure street. It is also Baoji’s largest concentration of intangible cultural heritage offerings. When planning your trip, you can choose between different themes, including bronze culture, industrial history, folk culture and intangible cultural heritage.

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