Heilongjiang Northern Folk Museum in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province was awarded with the designation of a third-level National Museum on Jan 15.

Located in Bayan county, Harbin, the museum features more than 16,000 artifacts reflecting production, living conditions, and folk cultures of people living in the northern areas of the Yellow River.

The exhibition areas of the museum cover 2,000 square meters, comprising of 10 exhibitions themed around minority ethnic groups such as Han, Korean, Mongolian, Oroqen and Kirgiz, as well as 26 exhibition halls with themes centering around Bayan culture, living utensils, instruments of production, paper-cutting and painting, ancient animals and stoneware.

The museum was founded by rural teacher Huang Xinzhang, who donated all his collections and hoped to promote traditional folk cultures to future generations.

It has received 1.02 million tourists since it opened to the public in 2014, including tourists from Russia, New Zealand, Japan, America and South Korea.

An award ceremony for Northern Folk Museum takes place in Bayan county, Harbin, Heilongjiang province on Jan 15. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Shoes pictured in the Northern Folk Museum. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Traditional living utensils pictured in the Northern Folk Museum. [Photo/Chinanews.com]