The Shanxi Museum is one of China's finest provincial museums and the best single place to understand what makes Shanxi historically significant. The building, opened in 2005, is itself worth seeing — a large, dramatic structure on the western bank of the Fen River — but the collections inside are the real reason to come.
The Bronze Age galleries display material from the Jin state tombs — ritual vessels, weapons, chariot fittings, jade, and lacquerwork from the 10th to 5th centuries BCE — that represents some of the highest achievements of early Chinese metalwork. The museum also has strong collections of Northern Wei stone sculpture, Tang ceramics and Buddhist art, Jin-dynasty architectural elements, and Shanxi's distinctive tradition of painted clay religious sculpture. Admission is free; allow at least two hours, and more if you have an interest in archaeology or material culture.