Chengdu Museum

The Chengdu Museum, opened in 2016, is one of China's best-designed regional museums and a strong introduction to Sichuan's history, culture, and art. The building faces Tianfu Square and houses a permanent collection covering Sichuan from Neolithic times through the twentieth century, with particular depth in Han dynasty burial art, Tang ceramic figures, and Sichuan opera costumes.

The Han dynasty section is outstanding — intricate stone reliefs, lacquerware, and the celebrated "money tree" bronzes used in burial rituals. The folk culture and religious art floors are equally rich. Admission is free; book a timed ticket online in advance, as the museum is popular and walk-in entry can be refused during peak season.

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A story
The Chengdu Museum's collection includes several remarkable bronze masks from the Sanxingdui culture, a mysterious Bronze Age civilization that flourished in the Chengdu Plain around 1200 BC. These large-eyed, alien-looking bronze faces — unlike anything else in ancient Chinese art — were buried in ritual pits and rediscovered by accident in 1986. They upended the assumption that Chinese civilization developed exclusively along the Yellow River, revealing a parallel world that had traded with, but remained distinct from, the Shang dynasty.

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