Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture Museum

Located on Pamir Road in Atushi City, the capital of Kizilsu Prefecture in Xinjiang, the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture Museum (referred to as Kizilsu Museum) is a comprehensive museum that fully showcases the history, culture, ethnic customs, and natural scenery of Kizilsu. The most impressive exhibits are the red joyful ox, the video of the myriad mountains, and the wolf that looks like Ermao's older brother [Joyful]. Because the sunset in Kizilsu is three hours later than in Shanghai, the museum closes at 9 PM. Dogs are not allowed in the museum, and bags must be stored in lockers next to the service desk. The museum covers a total construction area of 7,722 square meters with a total investment of 96 million yuan. Since its trial opening in April 2023, it has attracted over 200,000 visitors, becoming a new cultural landmark in the area. The museum features six main themed exhibition halls: History Hall, Nature Hall, Folk Customs Hall, Manas Hall, Commerce Hall, and Border Defense Hall, displaying a total of 923 cultural relics and representative exhibits. Through physical artifacts, cultural remains, and multimedia technology, it systematically presents the development of Kizilsu from the Paleolithic era over ten thousand years ago to the modern era, clearly explaining that Xinjiang has always been an inseparable part of China and a home where multiple ethnic groups live together. The collection includes precious items such as a 17,000-year-old Atushi human skull fossil, a gold eagle pecking a deer and a gold galloping horse from the Warring States period, a bronze seal "Tang Xu's Seal" from the Han Dynasty, and a Tang Dynasty female-headed ox-shaped pottery vessel. As a key project supported by Jiangsu Province in Xinjiang, the museum has launched more than 20 cultural and creative products and continuously carries out traveling exhibitions and social education activities. It is open to the public free of charge all year round and closed every Monday.