Exhibits are categorised into five major themes, including Folk Religions, Wedding Customs, Birthday Customs, Folk Art and Embroidery. You will get to see elegantly designed items that were displayed in the imperial palace alongside ordinary, yet practical tools used by ordinary people.
Along with the exhibitions, there are also live performances of Chinese shadow puppets, wedding ceremonies and traditional costume shows. Every year during the Luoyang Peony Festival , the museum also holds the Folk Culture Temple Fair that showcases a variety of folk art performances.
You can take any of the following buses in Luoyang to reach the museum, including service 7, 16, 17 and 57. The museum opens from 8:30am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and admission is free.
Sitting at the centre of Luoyang, the Museum of Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits, or Tianzi Jialiu Museum in Chinese, is within walking distance from Luoyang Railway Station. There are a number of buses that go past the site – just slight at Wangcheng Square, where a prominent statue of a chariot led by six horses serves as a reminder.
Built on sacrifice pits that cover an area of 1,700m2 (770 BC – 256 BC), the museum displays the petrified remains of royal horses and chariots for the emperors of the Eastern Zhou dynasty that are even older than Xian’s terra cotta warriors from the Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC).
The burial site that was found in 2002 provides concrete proof of the rigid hierarchy formed in the Zhou dynasty. The museum has exhibition halls, which are connected to the pits by an indoor corridor, with maps matching the five capitals in Luoyang during the Eastern Zhou dynasty to current-day places today and videos on the history of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. There’s even a virtual mausoleum that exhibits items found in the tombs for 25 emperors, including a display chamber on artefacts from the Eastern Zhou dynasty.
The museum opens from 9am to 5pm, and a ticket costs RMB30 (US$4.84).
Anyang
The Yin Ruins Museum is a stop you can’t miss even if you are not into archaeology and Chinese history. The museum in Anyang is a 4A National Scenic Spot and has been listed as World Cultural Heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation since 2006.