By Arus Bakunts, Sofi Elizbaryan

If you thought that to see the main treasures of China you need to go exclusively to Beijing or Shanghai, then we are ready to argue with you. It is in the heart of this industrial giant that the Gansu Provincial Museum is located, a platform that experts rightly consider one of the most impressive regional museums in China.

The Gansu region is historically a narrow geographical corridor through which the caravans of the Great Silk Road passed for centuries. The result is a huge collection of 350,000 exhibits, covering the period from the Neolithic to the heyday of Buddhist civilization.

The must-have of this exhibition—the museum's area is huge, but if your time is limited, it is worth focusing on three legendary collections.

1. The “Galloping Horse” of the Han Dynasty

A true brand and official tourist symbol of China.

This bronze statuette from the 2nd century AD is an absolute triumph of ancient engineering and art. Its master depicted the horse at a galloping pace: it gallops at such a speed that only one hind leg briefly rests on the back of a flying bird—judging by the expression on its “face,” it is quite confused by what is happening. This is an unprecedented example of the transmission of dynamics and ideal balance in the art of that period.

2. Artifacts of the Silk Road and Buddhist heritage: evidence of the first globalization in history

In these halls, the cultures of the West and the East are intertwined.

Global trade: Persian silver and fine ancient Roman glass, having traveled thousands of kilometers, have settled right here.

Early Chronicles: Unique wooden and bamboo tablets with the oldest state decrees and records.

Cave Art: The famous Buddhist complexes of Dunhuang, including the Mogao Caves, and the exceptionally rare frescoes and sculptures rescued from Xinjiang.

3. Neolithic pottery of the Majiayao culture

5,000-year-old geometry.

The museum boasts the world's best collection of Stone Age pottery—4,000 to 5,000 years old. It's amazing how ancient craftsmen, without modern tools, created perfectly symmetrical black-and-brown ornaments: intricate spirals, rhythmic waves, and zoomorphic patterns.

From antiquity to TikTok trends: How an artifact became China’s main meme

The Gansu Museum has proven that it knows how to work with a young audience no less than modern marketing agencies.

A few years ago, the museum team released a merch based on its main asset, the “Flying Horse.” They released a soft toy where the graceful Han horse had turned into an incredibly cheerful, slightly crazy character with a playful grin, and the swallow under its hooves had taken on a look of completely surrendered to fate and tired of life.

The toy instantly went viral on Chinese social media, turning into a cultural meme, and the queues for the “absurd horse” stretched for months.

The Gansu Provincial Museum is a rare example of how an ancient historical treasure trove can remain a living, self-ironical, and extremely trendy space.