Hunan Museum

A nice museum which has two main displays now, one is Pompeii ruins & the other one is Han Dynasty tombs with well kept mummy. The body is amazing fresh like just passed away recently. Of course, a lot of items including kitchen ware, cloths & potteries. A very impressed exhibition.

Our group arrived at 3.30pm , having very limited time to walk around the largest History & Art Museum in Hunan. It has a total floor area of 112,469 square meter. We were told currently it houses over 540,000 items (sets) of cultural relics & artifacts in its collections. The cultural relics & artifacts were unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tombs, bronze wares ,pottery and porcelain works from various dynasties, paintings, calligraphy works. Thus there are 2 basic exhibitions, namely "The Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs in Changsha" and "Hunanese-Exhibition of Hunan History and Culture" The Mawangdui Exhibition Hall is chock-a-block with visitors, making it very challenging for us to get a good view of the tombs of the Marquis of Dai & Lady Xin Zhui. However, there are wall-mounted text panels providing descriptions of exhibits. As closing time is 5pm , we just strolled through before closing time, making a last visit to its Souvenirs Shop. Like they say, “ Hunan Museum” also known as “Mawangdui Museum” is a cultural landmark of Changsha City which attracted millions of visitors. It’s a must see in Changsha if you ever travel to Hunan !!!

Highlight was seeing an actual mummy a corpse preserved for over 1200 years using ancient Chinese method from Han dynasty time. I was intrigued beyond belief. Photography is generally allowed inside the museum except for the mummy. They’ve 1:1 replica of the tomb that was unearthed back in 1972.

If you're a tourist, please get the hotel receptionist/concierge to assist you. This museum requests a local contact number in order for you to get an entry ticket. I've never been so excited to see a vast collection of artefacts displayed in a museum. This museum also housed fully preserved tomb structure and wealth that comes with it, making it one of the most important archaeology discoveries ever recorded of the 20th century. One of many museums I'd visited thus far that fascinates me. Visiting hours : 0900 - 1700 (last entry 1600) Closed on Monday. Entry with valid ticket and passport.

The entry system sucks as they are unable to scan the pre-registered QR codes and detect the registered ID document efficiently. The on-site staffs are helpful and have tried their best to guide the crowd and identify the queue which accepts the non- Chinese ID registrations. The management can do much more, such as setting up the LED signages at the entrance and enhancing the computer systems please!! The exhibitions are amazing and impressive as the 2000 years old “lady mummy” named 辛追and her stuffs are kept well, I like its thinnest silk jacket. They even show the original drawing of the imagery heaven and hell by Chinese painters several 1000 years ago (the one with black bird, which signifies the god of Sun), before the belief of Buddhist arrives in China. However, the bad experience at the entry nearly ruins this visit, the museum management should put more efforts in improving this. Further, please add the basic English instruction on the signages. For foreign visitors , please be reminded to register to reserve the free entry tickets at preferred time-slots via the official WeChat account, the reservation is opened 7 days in advance.

The museum was so huge! If you’re into history, I’d definitely recommend to spare out a couple of hours to visit this place. My favorite part was getting to know about the Xin Zhui’s cadaver, how the body was kept without decaying. Very interesting!

Reall nice museum. Recommended to go. Book in advance, free. Special event have pay.

Most of the exhibits comes with English description, and features artifacts that are over some 2000 years ago. The exhibits shows how the wealthy influence the society and even till now.