The Yangtze River Culture Museum, China’s first museum that focuses on issues - including protection, research, display and education – in relation to the Yangtze River, opened in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, on Nov 1.

Yang Fang, head of the publicity department of the CPC Zhangjiagang Committee, said at the opening ceremony that the museum “will provide a platform to showcase the intangible cultural relics of ethnic groups along the Yangtze River. Though Zhangjiagang is a county level city, we are willing to devote our efforts to the protection of the culture along the Yangtze River.”

Yang Fang (L2), head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhangjiagang Municipal Committee, addresses the opening ceremony of the Yangtze River Culture Museum on Nov 1.[Photo by He Zhaoming]

The museum opened to the general public after a short ceremony, and more than 100 visitors came on the first day.

A child and his grandmother look at artwork depicting a dragon, at China’s first Yangtze River Museum, in Zhangjiagang, shortly after the venue opened to the public on Nov 1.[Photo by He Zhaoming]

Li Yong, a lecturer at Nanjing University of the Arts, brought some of his students to the opening ceremony - and also to visit the museum - as he thinks it is important for them to learn how to curate an exhibition.

Yu Qiushuang, one of Li’s students, said that he was very impressed with the museum and that he thinks it is important for him to see relics on display rather than just in pictures in his textbooks. He also said that the visit made him more aware about the importance of protecting intangible culture relics. The Yangtze River is China’s biggest river and is said to be the area where Chinese culture originated.

The authorities view the museum as beneficial to the integration of the subcultures along the river, and it will also serve as a platform to exhibit the regional culture, ethnic culture, and folk culture. They also expect it to help promote unity among China’s different ethnic groups.