Qinghai Provincial Museum

青海省博物馆

An overview of Qinghai’s history and multi-ethnic culture. Liuwan painted pottery, a replica of the dancing-pattern painted pottery basin, and artefacts from the Tang-Tubo Ancient Road are the best starting point for understanding Qinghai.

The Qinghai Provincial Museum is beside Xinning Square in Chengxi District. It is a comprehensive museum focused on Qinghai’s local history and culture, with a collection of about 40,000 objects. Permanent exhibitions include “Qinghai Historical Artefacts,” “Qinghai Archaeological Achievements,” and “Qinghai Intangible Cultural Heritage.” Highlights include Majiayao culture painted pottery excavated at the Liuwan site. Qinghai is known as the home of painted pottery, and both the quantity and the patterns are unmatched in China. Other highlights are Qijia culture bronzes, Kayao culture bone artefacts, silk textiles and gold objects from the Tubo tombs at Dulan, which provide evidence of the Tang-Tubo Ancient Road and the Qinghai branch of the Silk Road, and Tibetan Buddhist thangkas and ritual objects. The museum building itself is Tibetan in style, and it stands alongside the provincial library, art museum and science museum around Xinning Square. Admission is free. You need to present your ID card or book through the museum’s WeChat official account, and same-day slots may be fully booked in peak season, so book one to two days ahead. Volunteer guides and audio guide rentals are available inside. A visit takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. Getting there: several city bus routes stop at Xinning Square, and a taxi from Mojia Street takes about 15 minutes. You can combine the visit on the same day with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wild Zoo and the Qinghai Tibetan Culture Museum in Haihu New District, whose main attraction is a giant thangka 618 metres long.

Qinghai Provincial Museum

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