Gansu Provincial Museum

The Gansu Provincial Museum, covering a total area of 16.5 acres, is the most impressive museum in the province. This is one of the best sights in the city, and for those who are in the western section of Lanzhou, a visit is well worthwhile.

The museum complex consists of three separate buildings linked by corridors: the two wings of the building are three storied and the main building in the middle has five floors. At the back of the building are a display hall and a lecture hall. It is further divided into two sections: a natural resources section downstairs and a historical exhibits section upstairs. 

The Museum boasts 75,000 cultural relics, ranging from natural specimens to historical, revolutionary and national heritages, of which more than 110 pieces are of the first class, including Gansu color-painted pottery, and bamboo slips on medication of the Han era, etc.

With 7,500 square meters of exhibition space, the Museum mainly features five exhibition halls, namely, the Hall of Gansu Historical Relics, the Hall of Gansu Natural Resources, the Hall of Jiayuguan Murals of Wei and Jin Period, the Hall of the Yellow River Ancient Elephants, and the Hall of Red Army's Long March via Gansu.

The world-famous bronze Galloping Horse of Wuwei  also known as Galloping Horse's Hoof Stepped on a Flying Swallow  is the treasure of Gansu Provincial Museum. Excavated in 1969 in Wuwei County  the piece depicts a vigorous horse with long tail waving and head perking. Its three hooves are in the air  galloping like lightening. What makes this sculpture amazing is the right back hoof of this galloping horse lands on the back of a small flying bird. The bird turns in surprise to look at the big creature on its back. At the same moment  the horse's head also turns slightly in attempt to know what has happened. The whole statue is honored as the mysterious and rare treasure in the history of Chinese ancient sculpture art.

The exhibition of the Silk Road, containing many treasures including Neolithic painted pottery that was excavated from the town of Dadiwan, whose ancient civilisation is believed to span back some 7,000 years. Also of interest are Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) Wooden Tablets, once used to relay messages along the road.