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China Elevator Stories

Museum of Rural China in the 1950s, Jilin Province (China Travel)

I recently visited a museum showing objects people used in rural China in the 1950s.

13/06/2026

Ruth Silbermayr
Ruth Silbermayr

Author

Street view of a Chinese town with a green storefront sign, cars parked along a dirt road, and a large central tree over overhead wires

My university recently invited all foreign teachers and exchange students to visit two sites near Siping: one was the Chinese Medicine Museum in Lishu County (in the town of Lishu), and the other was a small museum featuring collected items from the 1950s to show what people owned back then and what everyday objects looked like at the time. Some of the items may also have been from other areas. We didn’t have much time, so I only took a few pictures and didn’t read much of the information in the museum.

Overgrown rural garden with a small dilapidated shed, a stone wall, and dense trees in the background under a cloudy sky.

All items were donated by people living in the area, including a few pianos that only made a sound when you pressed the pedal.

Tall wooden structure with two large wooden gears, vertical signs with green characters, and colorful flags against a blue sky; trees and people in the background.

Here are a few of the pictures I took:

Red tractor parked in an outdoor construction yard beside stacks of circular stone pieces and other machinery, as people walk along the concrete lot.

I enjoyed looking at these old objects and learning about Chinese history by seeing what people used at home. A few farming tools were also shown, introducing us to what farmers in the area used to tend to their fields or do other work.

Outdoor sculpture yard with cylindrical and disc-shaped stone monuments on brick paving and a thatched-roof building in the background
Row of vintage wall clocks mounted on a light blue wall, including ornate and wooden cases as a centerpiece clock sits at top.
Two vintage wooden display cabinets with glass doors and floral/nature panels, topped by embroidered white fabrics on a wall.
Vintage shelf displaying two old radios and a selection of retro telephones and a black carrying case on the bottom shelf
Round, worn concrete planter wrapped in vintage newspaper clippings with a hollow opening at the top.
Corner scene with two wooden-framed mirrors leaning against a white wall; a colorful bird painting in a red frame sits above a doorway to a blue room.
Museum display: three framed colorful baby deity posters above a wall with traditional instruments and a large Chinese character panel.
Art installation: a large woven basket sculpture mounted on a neon yellow chevron wall, with three baskets on a table below.
Chinese strategy game board with black tiles bearing white inscriptions placed on a red-lined grid; various symbols visible on tiles and intersections.
Two white panels filled with handwritten Chinese characters on yellow tape, framed on the wall above a glass display case.
Two open boxes hold many colorful Chinese checkers marbles (pink, yellow, green, black) above a folded game board labeled 'TIAO QI' in red Chinese characters.
Red Chinese lanterns hang from the white ceiling along a bright hallway. A round ceiling light is visible above them.
Exhibition wall with a sunburst of wooden blades around a central piece, illuminated from behind, and a large 秋 (autumn) character below, plus vintage farming tools and a wooden bucket in front.
Wall-length display of leather belts hanging from hooks in a bright showroom; a woman stands in a doorway to the right.
Museum-style interior showing wooden lattice windows, a low dark table, and a coal brazier; snow-covered landscape visible through the windows.
Vintage woodworking tools mounted on a white wall next to shelves filled with painted boxes in a museum display.
White shelving unit with decorative teapots—floral and scenic patterns—on three shelves and a row of bowls on the bottom shelf.

Have you ever been to the Chinese countryside?

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