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Stele Forest - Beilin Museum

San Xue Jie, Xi An Shi, Shan Xi Sheng

Description

The Stele Forest or Beilin Museum exhibits stone sculptures and steles (slabs with carved or painted inscriptions erected as monuments) used as historical records, books master text, poems or artworks such as Chinese calligraphy. The sculptures comprise Buddhist statues and funerary stone artefacts. It is housed in a temple to Confucius and the bulk of the steles dates from the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD).

Access & Transport

The museum is located along South Shuncheng Rd, a 10 mins walk east of Yongningmen (South Gate), just before reaching Wenchang Men / Baishulin. The closest metro station is Yongningmen (2), about 1km away.

Instructions & Recommendations

We suggest combining this cultural attraction with a visit of the Xi'an City Wall.

Meta review

Not always featured in guidebooks and generally receiving little online coverage, the online reviews are good but nothing more. This is mostly on account of the average curation (lighting could be improved, for instance) and overall lack of building maintenance as well as the obvious fact that most of the inscriptions are in classic Chinese script so foreigners who cannot read it are somewhat limited in their appreciation. In that respect, there are recurring recommendations to use a guide to get better insights on the content and context.

Environmental & Social

Housed in a repurposed building (temple) and low electricity usage on a per visitor basis. Some educational aspect + helps preserve a cultural heritage

Conclusion

The Stele Forest is a rather focused museum so make sure the theme is of interest. Our opinion is that it provides good insights into cultural aspects that often take a backstage in classic history & art museums, which should be of interest to the culturally-minded and the naturally curious.

Key positive

Original content

Key negative

Room to improve museography

Suitability

The museum looks to be accessible for visitors with reduced mobility

About this Rating

TYPE

Desktop

RESEARCHED IN

April 2024

PROVIDER

Koreval

Included Items
None
Timing
Duration of visit
Last admission is 45mins before closing

av. transport time:0h 30m

est. visit time:1h 45m

Regulated hours

Monday08:00 - 18:30

Tuesday08:00 - 18:30

Wednesday08:00 - 18:30

Thursday08:00 - 18:30

Friday08:00 - 18:30

Saturday08:00 - 18:30

Sunday08:00 - 18:30

Pricing
Reduced price of CNY50 between December and February
Age band
Age band
Regular price / pers.
Senior
65 - 99
CN¥65
Adult
18 - 64
CN¥65
Teen & Young
8 - 17
CN¥65
Child
3 - 7
CN¥0
Infant
0 - 2
CN¥0
The height threshold is 120cm, which we equate to 8yr old

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