There are many museums in Jilin City, each with its own characteristics, which has become a highlight of the city's cultural tourism. Compared to most museums, the one we visited today was built in a restaurant. Although many Jilin people rarely know about it, it is really new and rich in content, and it is a good place to check in. This is the Jilin History Museum.
After careful preparation and careful design, the Jilin History Museum will officially open to the public at the end of 2021. It is located in the restaurant of Henan Street, a century-old commercial street in Jilin City. Museums built in restaurants are rare.
Henan Street in Jilin City is a commercial street with a long history, which was formed in the middle of the Qing Dynasty and got its name because it is located on the south side of a small river. Henan Street has a certain representative in the development of Jilin City, which has witnessed the commercial changes of the city's century-old history, and is now being upgraded into a cultural ancient street in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.
The Xinxingyuan Dumpling Restaurant, where the Jilin History Museum is located, is also remarkable, dating back to the nineteenth year of Guangxu (1893) at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Originally a dumpling shop, steamed dumplings are its specialty. In 1905, Niu Zihou, the richest man in Jilin Province, inscribed a plaque for the store "Xinxing Garden". Xinxing Park, which has a history of more than 100 years, is still loved by the people of Jilin today.
Whether it is Henan Street, or xinxingyuan and Fuyuan halls on this street, they all highlight the historical heritage of this old street and even Jilin. Based on this, the construction of this historical museum here is not abrupt, on the contrary, it complements each other. Learn about a city from here, its history and culture.
The Jilin History museum runs through the entire exhibition hall with different themes, telling the urban development and historical humanities of Jilin City since the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China period, and different stages after liberation. The layout of the whole museum is compact and exquisite, consisting of a number of theme exhibition halls such as Jiangshan, Cheng, Humanities, Qing Dynasty Figures, Qing Dynasty Relics, Republic of China Figures, Niu Zi Hou and Mei Lanfang, Jilin Manufacturing and so on. Each exhibition hall elaborates and presents the theme content in detail through old photos, pictures, and representative objects, supplemented by electronic screens and other facilities.
If the previous theme is already the dusty years of history, then the "Made in Jilin" theme exhibition hall will definitely evoke the memory of a generation. In the "Made in Jilin" exhibition hall, you can see the old trademark of liquor and beverages on the wall, the once famous wine bottles in Jilin on the cabinet, as well as black and white televisions, bicycles, scales... And other products, these are all items produced by Jilin City, although some have disappeared in the historical years, but still arouse people's good memories, let people feel a thousand emotions.
The adjacent exhibition hall is even more eye-catching, recreating the scene of life in the 1990s. Black-and-white televisions, double-cylinder washing machines, pendulum clocks, boxes, suitcases, high cabinets, etc. were once inseparable old objects in life.
The large number of old photos in the Jilin History Museum is definitely the most precious historical material here, witnessing the long history of Jilin City. At the same time, the history is presented here with physical objects, materials, etc., and the rich and colorful human history is vividly displayed. Relatively speaking, it is both grounded and very vivid, and at the same time, it is free from the old-fashionedness of most museums. Here you can learn a lot about the history of the city and look for the old times of the years. Take advantage of the weekends to take a stroll here!