You thought you encountered a "phoenix"??

Actually, the artifact in the main image is not a phoenix, but a Vermilion Bird from the Shanxi Bronze Museum. This is a niche museum, but the bronzes inside are truly dazzling. Below is a brief introduction to the Shanxi Bronze Museum and this shy Vermilion Bird. The Shanxi Bronze Museum is a specialized bronze branch of the Shanxi Museum, located on the Cultural Island in the scenic Changfeng Cultural Business District. It shares five interconnected yet independent red elliptical inverted cone-shaped buildings with the Taiyuan Museum, making it one of the iconic buildings in Taiyuan. The Shanxi Bronze Museum is China’s first provincial-level bronze-themed museum, with an exhibition area of 11,000 square meters, displaying more than 1,450 artifacts, showcasing the essence of Jin-style bronze artifacts. Opening hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Closed every Monday (open on public holidays), closed on Lunar New Year's Eve and the first day of the lunar new year. Visiting route: Take the elevator 🛗 directly to the fourth floor and start visiting from the "Traces of China" exhibition hall, then proceed downwards. It is recommended to spend more than half of your time in the two exhibition halls on the fourth floor, as they are definitely worth spending plenty of time to appreciate slowly. Guided tour services: 1. Free guided tours: one session at 10 AM and one at 3 PM. But, importantly, these are not available every day. 2. Paid guided tours: - Premium group: 1-5 people, max 10 people, 200 RMB per session; - Shared group: minimum 10 people, max 25 people, 38 RMB per person; - Team tour: 20-30 people, 760 RMB per session. Reservation method: No reservation needed, you can enter the museum directly by scanning your ID card. (If you forget your ID, you can register at the service desk.) Transportation: No public parking lot! No public parking lot! No public parking lot! There is a shopping mall nearby, MixC. After viewing the artifacts, you can go eat there, which is really convenient. Now, here is the identity reveal of the shy bird in the main image: Artifact name: Bird-shaped bronze architectural component (First-class cultural relic) Era: Han Dynasty This bird-shaped architectural component from the Han Dynasty is a national first-class cultural relic, 80 cm high, 64.5 cm long, 20 cm thick, and weighs 54.7 kg. The piece is heavy and solid, shaped as a Vermilion Bird. It has a curved neck and lowered head, a flat body, and spread tail feathers. The bird’s open mouth bites a front rounded arch and a vertically hanging component at the rear. The body and tail are decorated with shallow relief and openwork to depict feathers, with elegant design and exquisite craftsmanship. The Vermilion Bird is one of the Four Symbols, originally revered by ancient humans as powerful and spiritual animal gods, directly related to primitive star worship. In the Han Dynasty, the Four Symbols symbolized spatial directions and cosmic concepts, also carrying spiritual worship meanings. They were used in palace decorations, roof tiles, and bronze mirrors, intended to ward off evil and bring protection and good fortune. Alright, this laid-back blogger will stop here for today. Once again, I strongly recommend friends who are planning to travel to Shanxi to definitely visit this museum. Few people, many artifacts, and an excellent experience! For more treasures and first-class cultural relics, you can check my previous note.