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The Turpan Museum (also known as Turfan), the second largest museum in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of northwestern China, recently undertook a unique project offering visitors a truly bizarre experience. Specifically, the museum erected tents within its exhibition halls, allowing visitors to sleep alongside mummified dinosaurs and fossils.
The museum's deputy director said the project, which allows visitors to sleep alongside the exhibits, is a highly educational experience. The project has attracted many young visitors interested in Chinese history and culture.
The mummies, some dating back thousands of years, displayed in exhibitions at the Turpan Museum date back to the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC).
They were mainly unearthed from the Astana cemetery and the ancient tombs of Subeixi.
Many people think the experience isn't actually that scary because all the mummies are placed in glass cases. "It was a little scary at first," shared Zhao Yongning, a tourist who wanted to experience a night in the tents set up next to the mummies. "Now I'm more comfortable, and I'm really looking forward to the lights being turned off."
The mummies, with their eerie appearance, have always been a major reason why tourists interested in history and the mysterious are drawn to the Turpan Museum.
Located in the heart of the city, the Turpan Museum houses a vast collection of historical and cultural artifacts found in archaeological sites throughout the Turpan Basin, including food, gold and silver, and ceramics. It also displays dinosaur fossils, dinosaur eggs, and even fossils of the Paraceratherium (an ancient rhinoceros species). At the entrance to the museum, there are pictures showcasing tourist attractions, so if the Turpan Museum is your first stop in Xinjiang, these images might help you choose your next destinations.
The Turpan Museum, originally built in 1989 on Xinjiang's most prosperous road, Gaochang Road, was later relocated to Muna'er Road. This building houses over 5,000 historical artifacts from the Turpan region. Nearly half of the exhibits in the museum's newly constructed three-story building are the result of recent archaeological excavations, many of which had never been publicly displayed before. Besides the carefully guarded mummies dating back thousands of years, the Turpan Museum is also renowned for its collection of ancient documents written in various languages.
The main exhibition hall showcases the general history of the Turpan area. In this area, you will see artifacts bearing traces of human habitation from the Stone Age and beginning to transition to the Bronze Age around 3,000 years ago.
The Paraceratherium fossil collection is arguably the museum's most famous highlight, discovered in 1993 during the upgrading of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway line at Feiyue station in the eastern city of Turpan.
The room displays nine mummies and a skeleton, including two married couples and a shaman, all remarkably well-preserved. The earliest mummies date back to approximately 3,200 years ago.
The burial artifacts on display include jewelry, murals, replicas of ancient tombs, and silk paintings, among others.
The coins were found in nearby tombs, and the ancient silver coins of the New Persian Empire were donated by a coin collector.
It could be said that all the historical artifacts housed in the Turpan Museum have witnessed the entire rise and fall of the Silk Road. They tell you ancient and mysterious legends, recreate before your eyes the magnificent scenes of now-ruined ruins, and much more.
Additional information
- Location: No. 1268, Muna'er Road, Gaochang District, Turpan City
- Opening hours: 10:30 to 18:30 (April 15th to October 15th) and 11:00 to 17:00 (October 16th to April 14th); visitors are not permitted after 17:30. Closed on Mondays.
- The best time to visit is in the mornings from April to July and from September to October.
- Phone number: 0995-7619650
- Website: http://www.tlfbwg.com
Other things to note when visiting the museum:
- Visitors are admitted free of charge but must present a ticket (issued on the ground floor) before proceeding to the upper floors for sightseeing.
- Flip-flops are not allowed in the museum.
- Photography is not allowed in the document exhibition room.
- No drinks or bags are allowed inside the museum.
- Please maintain order throughout the visit.
