The Museum Of Honghe Prefecture

The Museum Of Honghe Prefecture

Honghe Yi and Hani Autonomous Prefecture in the southeast of Yunnan province
 is adjacent to Vietnam. With a total coverage of 32,931 square km, Honghe is a
 fertile land inhabited by 4 million people comprised of such ethnic groups as the
 Hani, Yi, Zhuang, Miao, Yao, Dai, Hui, Buyi, Lahu, Han, and the unidentified
 Mang people.

The splendorous Ailao Mountain Range goes horizontally through the whole 
prefecture. The roaring Honghe River (Red River), which is normally considered
 the symbol of Honghe Prefecture, also runs through this fertile land.   

Honghe Prefectural Museum, established in December 2003, is located in the
 downtown of Mengzi City. As the unique comprehensive and prefecture-level
 museum in Honghe Yi and Hani Autonomous Prefecture, the museum covers
 a total of 3,266 square meters with an architectural coverage of 8,121 square 
meters. It consists of the office area, warehouse, exhibition hall, lecture hall 
and multimedia centre. It was officially opened to public in October 2005.  

The exhibition hall is composed of three parts, namely "Beautiful and Fertile 
Honghe", "A Variety of Ethnic Minorities" and "Ancient and Mysterious 
Honghe". It's worth mentioning that the part "A Variety of Ethnic Minorities"
 is further divided into three parts: Ethnic Culture, Chieftain Culture and Hani
 Terraced Fields.

Garnered and housed in the museum are more than 1,000 items of relics such
 as bronze wares, porcelains, potteries, bronze drums, calligraphic and painting
 artworks, ethnic costumes, handicrafts, and folk musical instruments, to  name
 a few. And what is most valuable inside includes a state-class relic: a bronze
 lamp cast in the shape of a servant. Others valuable relics include  poems by 
Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) who was a reputed painter, calligrapher and
 litterateur in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and some bronze drums similar
 to those unearthed in Wanjiaba of Chuxiong Prefecture.