Exotic artifacts in Hepu

Golden beads crafted with ancient Greek techniques, Roman crystal agate, Sri Lankan amber and turquoise... In the Hepu County Museum in Guangxi, a constant stream of visitors strolls among the dazzling 'Maritime Silk Road Treasures.' The exhibition hall houses various artifacts over 2,000 years old, narrating the long history and prosperous scenes of Hepu as the starting port of the Maritime Silk Road during the Han Dynasty. Hepu County Museum, also known as the Hepu Han Dynasty Culture Museum, is located in Hepu County, Beihai City, Guangxi. It holds more than 5,200 artifacts unearthed from the Hepu Han tombs, with a significant portion of the artifacts originating from Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and the Mediterranean region, bearing witness to the ancient Maritime Silk Road. The Persian pottery jar in Figure 1 is the treasure of the Hepu Han Dynasty Culture Museum. This pottery jar, dressed in a blue-green robe, shines brightly under the spotlight and is an important piece of evidence of the interactions between the Han Dynasty and the Persian Empire. The feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp in Figure 2 is a replica, with the original currently housed in the Guangxi Museum. It was excavated in 1971 from the Han tomb in Wangniuling, Hepu. The lamp is exquisitely shaped and ingeniously designed, serving both as a lighting device and an environmentally friendly object, making it one of the top ten treasures of the Guangxi Museum. The museum covers an area of about twenty acres, with a building area of over 4,000 square meters. It is a small local museum that remained relatively unknown until it gained national attention after a visit from national leaders in 2017. Although the museum is small, it has everything it should have and is worth a visit. It is open for free from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 AM to 12 PM and 2 PM to 5 PM.