Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Kunming

Introduction

Yunnan Nationalities Museum is located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake next to Yunnan Nationalities Village in Kunming City, China. Completed in 1995, it is a comprehensive ethnology museum. Covering an area of over 200 mu, the museum has a building area of 130,000 square meters. It consists of various exhibition halls, office building, report hall, storage and workshops. The ecological environment, religious customs, culture and arts and ethnic relics of the ethnic groups of Yunnan are collected in it.

The structure of Yunnan Nationalities Museum

The whole architecture looks like a courtyard with winding corridors featuring the local and minority nationalities’ styles.

Including 17 nationalities, Yunnan Nationalities Museum assembled 23 assistant research fellows and 28 lecturers. It consists of 5 sections: Administration Department, Exhibition Department, Cultural Relics Department, Research Department, Scientific Education Department, Development Department. The whole collection of the museum reached to over20,000. The museum has a exhibitions focusing on specific subjects.

In addition, the museum is not only a hall for showing the nationalities cultures, but also a beautiful scenic spot and ideal conference center. It has multi-function conference hall which is equipped with simultaneous interpretation system. Book store, handicraft shop, tea house and Artist studios or galleries are available for entertainment. Wish you a good time in Yunnan Nationalities Museum. It extends warm welcome to the visitors from all over the world.

Exhibition of Yunnan Nationalities Museum

Basic Exhibition

1.Ethnic Costumes and Its Processing Skill: The exhibition is composed of two parts: “Traditional costumes” and “Costume processing skills”. Taking a main route of the history of costume development, the part of “Traditional costumes” presents the ethnic costumes made with various materials, rich styles, exquisite skills and of cultural meaning in different periods. The part of “Costume processing skills” presents the cloth including Dai brocade and Zhuang brocade, cloth processing tools, including spinning wheels, spinning tools, waist looms, horizontal looms, costume techniques and processes such as Tie-dye of Bai people, Batik of Miao people; various decorative ornaments and their processing tools, which display excellent skills level and unique aesthetic interests of Yunnan ethnic groups.

2.Ethnic Writing Characters and Ancient Books: The exhibition is composed of three parts：“Primitive Recording”, “Ethnic Ancient Books”, “Working Achievement”. The part of “Primitive Recording” displays those primitive information exchange ways before the invention o writing characters, such as wood carving and rode-tie, knitting, character patterns, objects endorsement, cliff painting. The part of “Ethnic Ancient Books” presents extensively ethnic writing characters and ancient books of various recording types, including inscriptions cliff, signature, stamps, ancient archives. The part of “Working Achievement” focus on the field work collecting, research and exhibition, interpretation and publishing works to show the fruits of ethnic ancient books and facing opportunities and challenge.

3.Traditional Producing and Life Skill: The exhibition is composed of “Traditional Producing Skill” and “Traditional Life Skill”. “Traditional Producing Skill” including two units of “Collecting, Fishing and Hunting Skill” and “Traditional Agriculture Skill”, presents Yunnan ethnic producing skill such as collecting, fishing, hunting, slash-and-burn cultivation, sowing and irrigation, hoe farming and plough farming, harvest and threshing. “Traditional Life Skill”, including three parts: “Folk dwelling house architecture”, “life utensils” and “life skill”, displays typical ethnic dwelling house in Yunnan, utensils for daily life and skills such as pottery-making, paper processing, sugar and oil press, rice processing, etc.

Temporary Exhibition

1.Culture on Fabrics - Canadian Aboriginal Textile Art
2.Zheng He, the Great Navigator, Diplomat and Envoy of Peace
3.Living by the Same River: The Greater Mekong Documentary Photography Exhibition

Domestic Exhibition Tour

1.A Fairyland of Seven Colors - Yunnan Ethnic Folk
2.The Charm of Yunnan - Yunnan Ethnic Folk Customs Exhibition
3.The South of Colourful Clouds - Yunnan Ethnic Folk Customs Exhibition

 Exhibition Abroad

1.China’s Ethnic Clothing & Accessories Exhibition (2003, China-France Culture Year)
2.Lotus and Dragon – China’s Ethnic Clothing & Accessories Exhibition (2004, Finland)
3.Splendid China – China’s Ethnic Clothing and Handicrafts Exhibition (2007, Russia’s Year of China)

Departments of Yunnan Nationalities Museum

Executive Office:

Responsible for secretarial, personnel, financial and foreign affairs, coordination between departments and public relations
Administrator: Du Yunhong, Associate Research Fellow of Museology.
Tel: 0871 - 4311389
Fax: 0871 - 4311394

Cultural Relics Department:

Responsible for the storage, maintenance and collection of cultural relics.
Administrator: Jiang Zhen, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Deputy Administrator: Li Jin, Museologist
Tel: 0871 - 4312097

Exhibition Department:

Responsible for planning and implementation of exhibitions, multimedia research and development of exhibitions, management of pictures and data, etc.
Administrator: Yang Li, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Deputy Administrator: Li Xiaobin, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Tel: 0871 – 4312090

Research Department:

Responsible for scientific research, website construction, books and data, video resources, etc.
Administrator: Wang Guoliang, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Deputy Administrator: Yang Xiaobing, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Tel: 0871 - 4312091

Scientific Education Department:

Responsible for management of exhibition halls, visitors, volunteers, social education, etc.
Administrator: Hei Shaorong, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Deputy Administrator: Qiu Wenfa, Associate Research Fellow of Museology
Tel: 0871 - 431138, 0871 - 4311216

Development:

Responsible for development, operation, logistics, water and electricity, environmental sanitation, etc.
Deputy Administrator: Ji Zhimei, Museologist
Deputy Administrator: Luo Zhicheng
Tel: 0871 - 4311215

Security Department:

Responsible for security, fire prevention, monitoring, management of security guards, etc.
Chief: Pu Zongde
Tel: 0871 - 4311317

Education of Yunnan Nationalities Museum

The Yunnan Nationalities Museum, adhering to the core value of museum education and the tenet of serving the general public and building China into a strong nation of socialist culture, has attracted more than 6 million visitors with various exhibitions, extracurricular activities for high school students, thematic lectures, community-based family education sessions, school-museum and inter-museum cooperation, construction of patriotism and popular science bases, public services, thematic education programmes, volunteer team building efforts and museum membership since its establishment. The Chinese and foreign state leaders that have visited our museum include NPC Chairman Qiao Shi (1999), Vice Premier Wu Bangguo (1995), NPC Vice Chairman Bu He (1998), CPPCC Vice Chairman Yang Rudai, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and Prince Akishino Miyafumihito of Japan. The Yunnan Nationalities Museum, as an important window open to the outside world and a spiritual home of all ethnic groups in Yunnan, is now playing an important role in publicizing the outstanding Chinese cultural heritage and promoting the national unity.

How to Get there?

Yunnan Nationalities Museum is located at 1503 Dianchi Road, Kunming, conveniently accessible via the buses A1, A9, 44, 73, 24, and 135. Please get off at Yunnan Nationalities Village and we are right across the road.

Travel Tips:

1. Yunnan Nationalities Museum offers free admission for the general public since January 1, 2011, and you are warmly welcome to visit us with your family and friends.

2. Admission: If you visit us as an individual visitor, you are supposed to show the reception a valid identity document of yours and get a ticket for a free tour of our Museum. Group visitors are advised to call and make an appointment with us the day before you come.

3. Circuit of Visits: Upon entering our Museum lobby, you can either follow the suggested circuit of visits through all showrooms or choose what to see at your own discretion .

4. Museum Policy:

• Visitors must follow the instructions and guidance of our staff during the visit.

• Visitors must keep the noise level down, respect public facilities and never touch the exhibits.

• Visitors must not litter or smoke on these premises.

• Visitors must never bring state-controlled items or pets into our Museum.

• Visitors must be free from the influence of alcohol and properly dressed, and persons with no or limited capacity for civil conduct must be accompanied by their guardians.

• Picture taking or filming is subject to prior Museum consent.

5. Useful Numbers: Appointments: (0871) 4311385 Visits & Complaints: (0871) 4311216