Do you know that there is a museum hidden in a high school in Suzhou?
That is Xima Museum（西马博物馆）on the campus of Suzhou High School-SIP（SHS-SIP，苏州中学园区校）, the nation’s first special museum themed on wetland.
Set up in SHS-SIP, Xima Museum got its name from its geographic location – formerly a part of Xima Village, Xietang Town, SIP（苏州工业园区斜塘镇西马村）.
Inaugurated in 2010, it is the first special museum themed on “wetland education” in China’s high school circles and is open to the public free of charge.
The museum has three floors.
First floor: Ecological Hall
A large sand table showing the distribution of Suzhou’s wetlands is placed in the middle of the exhibition hall and there are mainly specimens of animals and plants unique to the Taihu Lake area on display around the room.
Second floor: Life Hall
Third floor: Wetland Civilization Hall
The 100-plus exhibits, including the jadeware of Liangzhu Culture in the Taihu Lake basin, the jadeware of Hongshan Culture in the Liaohe River basin and potteries from different times, come from the personal collections of the school’s teachers, alumni donations or authorizations.
Isn’t it astonishing to look down from the third floor?
Xima Museum is not just a museum, but also a “stereoscopic classroom” for teachers and students.
Here, the methods of acquiring knowledge are tangible and touchable. The students are able to understand relevant wetland culture under the guidance of various exhibitions or fun learning activities.
Do you want to know the “wetland culture” as well?
How about paying a visit to Xima Museum?
Opening information
Xima Museum is located on the campus of SHS-SIP. Visitors can dial the phone number below to make a reservation.
Reservation time:
workdays of Suzhou’s primary schools and junior and senior high schools
Reservation phone number:
0512-62530676