Banpo (Bànpō 半坡) is an archaeological site first discovered in 1953 and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xi'an, China. It contains the remains of several well organised Neolithic settlements dating from approximately 4500 BCE. It is a large area of sixty square kilometers and surrounded by a ditch, probably a defensive moat, five or six meters wide. The houses were circular, build of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs. They sat on low foundations. There appears to be communal burial areas.

The Banpo Museum is located in the eastern outskirt of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. As the first museum at the prehistoric site, it was built at the base of the excavations of the Banpo site. Since it opened to the public formally in 1958, two million people have visited it.
The approximately 4,500 square meters (about 1 acre) exhibit area of Banpo Museum is divided into two Exhibition Halls and a Site Hall.

The first Exhibition Hall is about the unearthed relic exhibitions consisting of the First Hall and the Second Hall. The showpieces in this two halls are primarily production tools and domestic tools used by the primitive Banpo people, including axes, chisels, sickles, and stone and pottery knives from which we can have a general picture of the production activities of the Banpo people thousands of years ago. In addition, artwork and adornments here reflect the social life, culture, art and inventions of the period.

The second Exhibition Hall is primarily used for auxiliary exhibitions and it contains two halls. Special shows are held here on ethnology, folklore and the history of art related to the prehistoric culture.

The Site Hall is about 3,000 square meters (about 0.7 acre) and contains residential, pottery making and burial section. And among the three, the residential section is the main part of the site, including the huts, kilns and tombs of the primitive residents. All these present us an outlook of the aboriginal village and the hard situations of the forefathers in pursuing the civilization, reflecting the production level and the social systems at that period of time.

The Banpo Matriarchal Clan Community Village is an extension of the museum based on archeological findings. The entire village enriches the cultural connotation of the museum and carries forward the long and splendid history of China at the same time.

Admission Fee: CNY 35 (Mar. to Nov.)
                        CNY 25 (Dec. to Feb.)
Opening Hours: 08:30 to 17:00
Recommended Time for a Visit: Four hours
Bus Route:
From Xian Railway Station: Take No. 213, 42, 105 and 231 buses;
From the South Gate: Take No. 232 bus;
From the Bell Tower: Take No. 11 and 15 buses
From the Wild Goose Pagoda: Take 237 and 715 buses
Website: http://www.bpmuseum.com/
Tel：+86 (0) 29 8351-2807,8353-2482
 

tags: travel in Beijing       travel in Shanghai