The entrance to the Jinshangjing History Museum. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]
Harbin is famed for its ices and snow in winter and for the beauty of its spectacular forests in summer. But beyond this and the abundance of natural resources, there one place worth visiting if you wish to dig far back into the region’s past and learn more about the people who once lived here.
Located some 23 kilometers southeast of Harbin, Jinshangjing History Museum houses many relics from the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234). There are eight exhibition halls with antiques that attest to almost every aspect of the Jin people’s lives.
The Jin Dynasty was founded by the Wanyan, one of the clans of the Jurchen people, who were an ethnic group that inhabited what is now the southeastern region of China. Jurchens are the ancestors of the present-day Manchus.
The imperial city of the Jin Dynasty once stood not far from the museum. At the peak of their power, the Jurchens ruled more than half of the land that is now recognized as China. But unfortunately today not even the ruins of this great city can be viewed here. All that now stands on the site of what was once an incredible city are mounds of dirt.
The descendants of the imperial family of the Wanyan clan now live in western China’s Gansu Province and in Taiwan.
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