Sanxingdui Museum

Sanxingdui Museum, located in Guanghan, Sichuan, showcases artifacts from the ancient Shu civilization, including bronze masks, gold items, and a nearly 4-meter-high bronze tree. The museum comprises two exhibition halls: the Comprehensive Hall and the Bronze Hall, displaying over 1,500 relics. A new building opened in 2023, expanding the exhibition area to 22,000 square meters. The museum is situated 38 kilometers north of Chengdu and 26 kilometers south of Deyang, near the Sanxingdui archaeological site. It was officially opened to the public in October 1997.

Planning your visit

Sanxingdui is one of the great archaeological surprises of the twentieth century: bronze masks with protruding eyes, gold foil, jade, and a nearly four-metre bronze tree, made by the Shu civilization around 3,000 years ago and utterly unlike contemporaneous Chinese bronzes elsewhere. Nobody expected them, and the culture that produced them left no written record. The museum, opened in 1997 near the excavation site at Guanghan, expanded into a new 22,000-square-metre building in 2023 to display more of the 1,500-plus relics.

It sits 38 kilometres north of Chengdu, so most bookable options handle the transport. Entry tickets and tickets with digital maps cover independent visits; private and small-group day tours from Chengdu include the drive. Because it works naturally as a full day out from the city, many tours combine it with the Giant Panda Breeding Base, a Sichuan opera performance with face-changing, or a Sichuan cooking class. Current availability is listed below.