The Shanhaiguan Museum of the Great Wall of China has just reopened near the famed fortification’s eastern end.
Found near the Shanhai Pass where the Great Wall of China meets the Bohai Sea, the museum is one of three in the country, having first opened in 1991. The other two Great Wall museums are located in Jiayuguan and Badaling, with the latter currently closed for renovation works due to be completed later this year.
The museum in Hebei province houses more than 11,000 cultural artifacts, with five permanent and three temporary exhibition halls. Current displays focus on Shanhaiguan’s role in the Great Wall, ancient Chinese armour, and weaponry.
Guo Ying, deputy curator of the museum, said that the museum ‘is dedicated to safeguarding and sharing the heritage of the Great Wall, to advancing its global reach through cultural programs, and to academic cooperation and digital displays’.
The reopening is part of China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism plans to create a national Great Wall culture park. Spanning 15 provinces and municipalities, works will focus on conserving the Great Wall and creating more dedicated tourism areas.
The Great Wall of China covers more than 21,000 km, having been built over the course of more than 1,000 years from the 7th century BC until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is one of the new seven wonders of the world alongside the Colosseum, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, Petra, the Taj Mahal and Christ the Redeemer, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.