The Yangzhou Museum occupies a contemporary building on the west side of the city and holds the main civic collection of artifacts from the region's long history. The galleries cover Yangzhou's successive periods of commercial and cultural prosperity — Han Dynasty archaeology, Tang and Song trade goods including foreign-made objects that arrived via the maritime Silk Road, and an extensive collection of work by the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, the influential 18th-century painters who worked here.
The lacquerware collection is particularly strong: Yangzhou was historically one of the most important lacquerware production centres in China, and the museum displays objects ranging from Han Dynasty tomb pieces to Qing Dynasty decorative work. The Eight Eccentrics gallery gives useful context to a group of painters who influenced Chinese art profoundly — their rejection of orthodox painting styles in favour of expressionism and individual voice still resonates. Admission is free; the museum is closed on Mondays.