Guyuan: Museum and Long March History

For a trip to Guyuan, the cultural attractions can be grouped by their focus: the Ningxia Guyuan Museum combines an extensive collection with several historical exhibitions. The Liupan Mountains Red Army Long March tourism area has its own focus on patriotic education and the history of the Long March. Both attractions are in the town area. Yunwushan offers a different perspective on the nearby area, focusing on grassland. When planning, you can decide whether you are most interested in collections and modern history, a trail and its historical narrative, or landscapes.

Ningxia Guyuan Museum: Collection and Exhibitions

The Ningxia Guyuan Museum preserves nearly 20,000 cultural relics, including 123 national first-grade cultural relics and three national treasures. The museum identifies these as a painted coffin panel from the Northern Wei dynasty, a gilt silver ewer from the Northern Zhou dynasty, and a glass bowl with raised studs. These three named objects represent different materials and forms within the collection.

The museum was designated a national first-grade museum in 2008 and rated a national 4A tourist attraction in 2009. These dates give you a timeline for the two classifications. This helps you distinguish which details concern the institution’s status and which describe the collection itself.

The main exhibition, “A Millennium of Guyuan: Splendour of the Silk Road” (千年固原 丝路华章), presents 2,280 locally excavated objects and covers more than 5,000 years of history, from the Neolithic period to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is divided into five chronological sections: prehistory; the pre-Qin period; the Qin and Han periods; the period from the Southern and Northern Dynasties through the Sui and Tang dynasties; and the period from the Song, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan dynasties through the Ming and Qing dynasties. This structure provides a timeline that shows the broad span of eras covered.

The “Ancient Tombs Hall” (古墓馆), meanwhile, features life-size reconstructions of nine local tombs dating from the Western Zhou dynasty to the Yuan dynasty. These spatial reconstructions are the focus here, while the main exhibition places objects in a broader historical context. The special exhibition “The Invisible General Han Liancheng” (隐形将军韩练成) displays 117 groups of items from Han Liancheng’s estate, focusing on the legacy of a named individual. If you are planning a museum visit, check in advance which exhibitions are currently on display.

The Long March and Yunwushan

The Liupan Mountains Red Army Long March tourism area is one of China’s first 100 classic Red Tourism sites. It is also a national patriotic education base and a national defense education base. An activity format documented in 2024 carries the motto “Six Ones” (六个一). The activities described include walking a section of the Long March and having a meal in the style of the Red Army.

One specific route there is the 2.5-kilometer “Red Army Trail” (红军小道), which climbs uphill. Along the trail, 18 miniature scenes depict important events of the Long March. This attraction focuses both on the trail itself and on the representation of historical events. Before visiting, check whether the activities are currently offered and whether the trail is accessible.

A separate destination near the travel destination, the Yunwushan grasslands, offers a focus on scenery. Established as a grassland nature reserve covering 4,000 hectares in 1982, it was designated a regional-level nature reserve in 1995. The two dates mark its establishment and subsequent designation. Yunwushan thus complements the museum’s themes and the history of the Long March with a different regional perspective.

Discover more destinations: Shizuishan, Yinchuan, Wuzhong, Zhongwei

Return to the overview of the region: Ningxia.