Xi'an - Historical Museum of Shaanxi Province Shaanxi Lishi Bowuguan

This modern museum to the northwest of the Pagoda of the Great Wild Goose is China's most important archaeological museum. It measures 44,000sq.m/474,000sq.ft in area and consists of several buildings containing a large number of rooms in which more than 3000 exhibits, displayed in seven chronologically arranged sections, illustrate the origins, achievements and flourishing of Chinese culture from prehistory to the Qing period (1368-1911). On display are bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou period (16th-3rd C BC), porcelain from the Tang and Song era (7th-13th C), gold and silver jewelry from the Tang period (618-907), a rich collection of frescos from the tombs of Tang rulers which depict scenes from court life, and musical instruments. Evidence of trade with the west is provided in the shape of gold dishes, brooches and silver-plate from the Sassanid (Persian, AD 211-651) empire.