The Jishui Shaoyin Museum covers over 5,000 square meters in Beijie village, Qudi, Jiyang district, Jinan. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Jishui Shaoyin Museum, which covers over 5,000 square meters in Beijie village, Qudi, Jiyang district, Jinan, has over 10,000 antiques on display such as farming tools, stone tools, ceramics and calligraphy works that depict the long agricultural and historical culture in northwest Shandong province.

The museum is a personal museum that was planned and built by Guo Huaifu, the 54-year-old Party secretary of Beijie village, and it is open for free to the public.

In contrast to contemporary museums in urban areas, the Jishui Shaoyin Museum features exhibition rooms made from recycled old brick homes and walls constructed from stones.

As a comprehensive museum, the Jishui Shaoyin Museum contains three main exhibition areas with over 20 exhibition rooms, showcasing Confucianism, Shaoyue – a traditional Chinese court music, farming, folk customs, and Yellow River culture.

There are also three outdoor exhibition areas displaying ancient objects from all walks of life, modern farm equipment, and ancient porcelain potteries, which all tell stories about the past to the present.

A hand-drawn map of the Yellow River in the Jishui Shaoyin Museum in Jinan [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An exhibition room showcases the musical instruments for Shaoyue, a traditional Chinese court music. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]