Beijing Dabaotai Museum of Western Han Tombs is located in southeast of Dabaotai Village, Huaxiang, Fengtai District. Surrounded by great Chinese parasols, beautiful tower pines and green bamboo forest, the underground palace of two thousand years-old Western Han royal tomb lies within Beijing Dabaotai Museum of Western Han Tombs which was established on the former site of the large tombs of Liu Jian, the Guangyang King of Western Han Dynasty.
The Museum exhibits the original site and excavations of the tombs of Liu Jian. Stepping into the exhibition room, the first things you can see are "The Carriage with Vermilion-Spotted Wheels and Cyan Cover" that exclusively used by crown princes and vassal kings in Western Han, large coffin chamber, magnificent "Huang Chang Ti Cou" (a style of tombs used in Western Han), and numerous exquisite jade-ware, bronze-ware, potteries and silk fabrics, which reappear the extravagant life of the tomb owner before his death.
Dabaotai was under the jurisdiction of Yinxiang County during Western Han Dynasty, and was called Longhuo City in Tang Dynasty. Dou Jiande, the leader of farmer rebel used to fight a fierce battle here against Luo Yi, the Governor of Youzhou. In Jin Dynasty, the Concubine Li of Emperor Zhang used to spend her summer here, and it was then called Baotai, and subsequently called Dabaotai. The tombs of Han Dynasty were excavated in 1974 and 1975. Dabaotai Museum of Western Han Tombs was built on the original site of the tombs of Han Dynasty, and the building was commenced in November 1979 and finished and opened to the public on 1 December 1983. The Museum consists of Dabaotai coffin chamber No.1 reappearance array, buried carriages and horses array of Dabaotai tomb No.1, Dabaotai reproduced Han Carriage array, and the evacuated articles buried with the dead in Dabaotai tomb No.1 and 2. Dabaotai tomb No.1 and 2 are the two largest Han tombs archaeologically evacuated in Beijing, and the first two "Huang Chang Ti Cou" tombs discovered after the establishment of new China. The scale of tomb No.1 is so large that it ranks ahead of all "Huang Chang Ti Cou" tombs discovered so far. Its tomb form and the structures of inner and outer coffins are clearly and completely preserved, which provides important and valuable physical data for China's research on the royal burying system of "Zigong (coffin for emperor and empress), Bianfang (a house resembling an emperor's living room when he was alive), Huang Chang Ti Cou". Although having been stolen in the past, there were still more than 900 pieces of historical relics evacuated from Dabaotai tomb No.1 and 2, many of which were made with relatively high workmanship, reflecting the superior state of art of the craftsmen in more than 2000 years ago, and they are valuable physical data for the research on the political, economic and cultural development of the middle and later period of Western Han Dynasty.
Dabaotai Museum of Western Han Tombs also launched an "Archaeology Little Soldiers" activity beloved by teenagers based on its rich historical and cultural resource. The activity carried out in an interactive form has intellectual connotation and is favored by viewers; its core content is the "Six Missions for Little Soldiers" by which children can learn basic archaeological knowledge, get to know archaeological instruments, learn evacuating method, search for treasury and conquer missions, and identify classic historical relics from various dynasties. They can open and enlighten their mind and experience the fun of discovery. In recent years, the Museum also launched Huaxia Archaeological Scientific Popularization Interaction Exhibition and Historical Practice for middle school students, these activities contain fixed exhibition, simulated archaeology, Touhu (pot targeting) etiquette, historical skits, writing of bamboo slip, rubbing, comparing height with ancient people, and "passing through the time and experiencing the scientific life in ancient times", and aimed at communicating and popularizing Chinese ancient scientific technology through multi-media and various interactive items, in order to make middle school students get close with history and experience history. These activities received favorable social repercussion.
Address: North of Guogongzhuang, Huaxiang, Fengtai District (600 meters to the south of World Park, Fengtai District, Beijing) Tel: 010-83612852, 83613073
Website: http://www.dbthm.com
Business hour: 9:00—16:00 (not open on Monday, open on weekends and holidays)
Fare: fixed exhibition is free of charge with valid identify documents; chargeable items of interactive items are subject to the notices in the Museum.
How to get there:
Take bus No.692 to World Park Bus Terminal, or walk for 15 minutes from World Park
Take bus No. 944 feeder to Baotai Road stop
Take Subway Fangshan Line to Baotaolu stop and get out through southeast exit.
Self-driving: Drive south for about 2km from Kefengqiao on Southwest Forth Ring Road to World Park, then keep driving south for about 500 meters, and turn east.
