Bengbu Museum of History

So many new things in Bengbu.  New construction, new buildings.


We were able to be the very first foreign visitors during normal hours on only the 3rd day of the new Bengbu museum of history. 


The museum was incredibly impressive, and showed relics of history from Bengbu and the surrounding area, dating back 100,000 years to a skeleton of a mastodon elephant.  It covers so much of the history, from ancient Neolithic settlements excavated in the immediate area, pottery, jade, tools, weapons, statues, artwork, clothing, boats, farm tools, food, style, all the way through present day.  It was extremely well done.


I am a huge museum nerd, and I have to give this museum an A+ for both presentation and content.  It rivals the very best history museums I have been to, which are the British Museum in London,  and the history museum in Munich.  I

 The main lobby of the museum.  Some of the floors were not open yet

 overhead artistic walkway was not yet open

 The oldest archaeological finds

 This was the "Mona Lisa" of the museum.  A centerpiece to their collection, and known by many Bengbu residents.  It is dated at 7300 years old, and is of a tattooed face. This was found locally several years ago. The actual size is only a few inches high.  But this image is recreated around Bengbu and serves as an icon for the city.

 A very detailed explanation of this ancient settlement site, excavated very close to the city.

 In another wing of the museum, 20th century history is explored, and Steven admitted to me, that he never knew of the ancient history of this area prior to visiting the museum.  He had only heard of the history of Bengbu starting with the railroad, including the arrival of western train builders from Germany.

 

 They even went into history of the cuisine of the area, which I found of particular (and delicious) interest. 

 There was a very interesting and well done section for children, with hands-on displays talking about archaeological methods.

 This was a computer animated display.  If you twisted a stick in a hole with the proper speed and intensity, a fire would appear on the screen.

 

 In this section, there was a life sized diorama of an example of a typical household room in different eras.  The above was from the late 19th century

 This was a representation of the late 1980's, which is perhaps what the household of Emma's birthparents may have looked like.

And of course, I was easily distracted from my museum gawking, to have a look at these incredibly cute Bengbu babies!!