The Xianyang Museum occupies a former Confucian temple in the old city, its courtyards and halls adapted to house the city's main archaeological collection. The core displays cover the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han, the two periods when Xianyang was either the imperial capital or closely tied to it. The Qin section includes bronze vessels, weapons, and ceramic figures recovered from Qin-period sites within the city, including a group of small terracotta cavalrymen found under the city streets.
The Han section is stronger and more extensive: a large collection of burial pottery, bronze figures, and the terracotta army figures that give the museum its popular name — the "Three Thousand Warriors." The museum's ceramic figures from Han imperial tomb complexes on the plateau north of the city represent the full range of Han burial practices, from small painted pottery pieces to life-size standing officials.
The museum is in the centre of Xianyang old town, easily reached by metro (Line 1 from Xi'an, Xianyang stops) or by bus. It makes a good complement to the Yangling Mausoleum Museum, providing the broader historical context that the tomb-site displays do not have space for.