Banpo Museum in Xian

Facts of Xian Banpo Museum

Names: Chinese: 西安半坡博物馆; pinyin: Bànpō

Type: prehistoric site

Location: Banpo Road, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province

Opening Hours: 08:00 - 17:00 (07:30 - 17:00 in holidays)

Banpo Museum is a museum built on a prehistoric site in the eastern outskirt of Xian City. Banpo site was a typical village of Neolithic Matriarchal community of the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) around 6000 years ago. The museum was built in 1957 to preserve its archaeological collections.

Banpo Site is known for its well-preserved relics, including pottery, bone and stone tools, and artifacts made of jade and other materials. The pottery artifacts found at Banpo are particularly noteworthy, as they are among the earliest examples of painted pottery in China. The site is also known for its unique burial customs, which involved burying the dead in large pottery jars.

Today, Banpo Site has been turned into a museum, showcasing the artifacts and relics that have been excavated from the site. It consists of two exhibition halls and a site hall, covering an area of 4,500 square meters (about 1 acre). The first exhibition hall houses primarily production tools and daily utensils, including axes, sickles, millstone, stone, and pottery knives as well as artwork and adornments. In the second exhibition hall, there are special shows on ethnology, folklore, and history of art. A basin of human face and fish pattern is one of the treasures in the museum. The site hall contains three sections, the residential, pottery making and burial section. Huts, kilns, and tombs of the primitive residents are arranged in the way as they were, resembling the earliest civilization in China when people started living in permanent homes, started to farm and domesticate animals.

The museum has rich collections and provides deep insight of Neolithic culture. It is strongly recommended for the museum lovers.

Transport to the Banpo Museum

The Banpo Museum is located at 155 Banpo Road, Xi'an. For independent travelers, you can choose to take public buses 105, 406, and 913 to the "Banpo Museum" stop (半坡站), or take Line 1 of the metro and get off at the "Banpo" station (半坡站).