Shaanxi to construct China's first archaeology museum

A section of a mural unearthed inside a tomb from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) in Shui village of Tongguan county of Northwest China's Shaanxi province is in the collection of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology. [Photo/cnwest.com]

China's first archaeology museum will be constructed in Xi'an city, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Total investment in the museum will be 315 million yuan and it will be located west of Xiangji Temple in the Chang'an district of Xi'an, according to the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

The institute, which initiated the project, announced that over the past 50 years it has collected more than 140,000 cultural relics from different periods in Chinese history.

The construction of an archaeology museum will be beneficial to the protection and preservation of cultural relics in Shaanxi, as well as enhance the development of cultural industry in the province, the institute said.

According to the plan, the museum will cover an area of 170,000 square meters and will include exhibition halls on archaeological history and the latest archaeological discoveries. The museum will also have a cultural relic protection lab and an academic exchange center.

Xi'an, famous for the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, was China's capital during 13 dynasties. The province owns 235 national cultural relics protection sites.