Travelogue of Hebei: Baoding Museum

On the morning of April 15, 2023, we had breakfast at the hotel just after 7 a.m. Afterwards, we caught bus no. 4 from the East Square of the train station and got off at the Donghu Grand Theatre, entering the Baoding Museum at 9:15 a.m.

The new Baoding Municipal Museum (which incorporates the Historical and Cultural Celebrity Garden) covers an area of 73,000 square meters, with a total floor area of 53,000 square meters (including the Guan Hanqing Grand Theatre). The overall building comprises three above-ground floors and one basement, with a total investment of 580 million yuan. The museum’s exhibition space has increased from 2,100 to 22,200 square meters, meeting the construction standards of a national second-class museum. There are eight exhibition halls, with a total display area of 5,530 square meters. These include: three halls for the permanent exhibition “The Baoding Story,” one intangible cultural heritage hall called “Baoding Memories,” one hall for fine cultural relics, one interactive technology hall, and two temporary exhibition halls. The displays make comprehensive use of panel combinations, scene reconstructions, AR, VR, and other panoramic presentation techniques to thoroughly explore and present Baoding’s distinctive regional cultures—such as Yan culture, Han culture, Zhili culture, and red revolutionary culture—each of which holds significant national influence. The exhibitions reconstruct the complete historical footprint of Baoding, from the Laishui Homo sapiens of the Paleolithic period to the contemporary era of coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Additionally, auxiliary facilities such as a relic storeroom and a relic restoration laboratory have been established, filling a long-standing gap in Baoding’s history of lacking a restoration lab. The two temporary halls are located on the first floor, with a combined area of 1,505 square meters.

The three permanent exhibition halls of “The Baoding Story” are on the second floor and cover 2,290 square meters. They are divided into six sections: The Dawn of Civilization, Multicultural Interchange, Flourishing Splendor, Famous City Baoding, Hot Land of Revolution, and New Frontier of the Capital Region. These sections collectively showcase Baoding’s historical evolution and its role in the development of Chinese civilization.

The intangible cultural heritage hall, “Baoding Memories,” is on the first floor and spans 930 square meters. It highlights regional characteristics and representative national- and provincial-level intangible cultural heritage projects.

The Fine Relics Hall, located on the second floor and covering 200 square meters, mainly displays national treasure-level artifacts excavated from the Baoding area but not housed in the Baoding Museum.

The museum’s collections primarily come from private donations and transfers from other museums. As of the end of 2019, the Baoding Museum held 1,082 items or sets, including 241 precious cultural relics.

Notable items in the collection include the Eastern Han bronze horses and Quyang stone carvings. The bronze horses were unearthed in 1981 from Tomb No. 2 of the Fangling Han Tomb complex in Xushui District, Baoding. They are the largest bronze horses ever found in Hebei Province, consisting of one with a straight neck and one with a curved neck. The straight-necked horse stands 1.16 meters high, 70 cm long, and weighs about 51 kg. The curved-necked horse stands 1.13 meters high, 66 cm long, and also weighs around 51 kg. The heads, ears, bodies, and legs of both horses were cast separately and then joined together. These horses are monumental, lifelike, plump yet graceful, with accurate proportions and a dynamic presence—truly rare. They represent the casting craftsmanship of the Han Dynasty and possess immense artistic and historical value, earning them the status of National First-Class Cultural Relics.

At the Xiude Temple site in Quyang, a large number of stone statues were unearthed, nearly 300 of which bear precise dates, ranging from the third year of the Shengui era of the Northern Wei (520 AD) to the fifth year of the Tianbao era of the Tang (746 AD). Spans five dynasties—Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, and Tang—with a clear and complete chronological sequence and superb artistry, these statues are of great significance for the study of Chinese stone sculpture.

A delightful surprise was the temporary exhibition on new traditions in Chinese ceramic art. Although all are contemporary works, they encompass a wide variety of genres and striking pieces that are refreshingly novel. It was truly a rare artistic treat.

We finished by 11 a.m., then took bus no. 39 to the Ancient Lotus Pond stop to continue exploring Baoding’s second attraction.