The Bengbu Museum, housed in a modern building at Civic Plaza, holds the most important collection of regional archaeology between Nanjing and Zhengzhou. Its centerpiece is the Shuangdun culture — a Neolithic civilization unique to this section of the Huaihe valley, distinguished by pottery decorated with incised geometric and symbolic markings that have no close parallels elsewhere in prehistoric China.
The galleries progress from Neolithic through Han dynasty material, with a strong showing of bronze vessels, lacquerware, and jade objects recovered from Chu and Han tombs in the surrounding fields. The presentation is in Chinese, but the objects themselves communicate clearly enough: this stretch of the Huaihe valley was more sophisticated and better connected in antiquity than its current obscurity suggests. Allow ninety minutes for a proper visit.