Text and photographs by Wang Yongqiang and Ma Qing

One place in China depicts history so vividly that visitors lose themselves as they’re whisked back to yesteryear, where their souls are stirred by tales of antiquity. Fan Jianchuan created the veritable time machine in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and his gift is known as Jianchuan Museum Cluster (JMC).

A rarity in China, JMC has expanded constantly since its establishment in 2003. Its collection from the 1970s alone ranks the museum tops in the country in both volume and variety. The cluster includes more than 20 museums devoted to three primary themes - World War II, Folklore and Culture, and the Red Era. Assembling so many individual institutions created the largest area and scale and the most diverse collection, that is, for a private museum. Not surprisingly, it also represents the greatest private investment in a museum in China. In 2009, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Chinese Museums Association jointly granted the honorable title “China’s Museum Town” to Anren, where JMC is located.

Anren Town in Dayi County, Chengdu, preserves many historic houses from the early 20th Century. Scattered in old-fashioned courtyards that represent an elegant blend of Chinese and Western styles and cover about 300,000 square meters in total, the buildings are hailed as “Western Sichuan Architectural Masterpieces.” Home to 27 historic mansions such as Liu’s Manor, 15 modern museums, 16 cultural heritage sites, a repository of more than 8 million items, and 136 first-class national cultural relics, Anren leads its domestic counterparts in both value and scale of cultural collectibles as well as the numbers of museums.

Anren’s museum development was largely inspired by Liu’s Manor, where visitors are invited to experience the historic landlord lifestyle, and JMC, which combines art with folk customs. Meanwhile, to highlight recreational and leisurely functionality of museums, the town has established both history-focused museums and those specializing in fun, fashion, and new experiences. A new zone that allows visitors to comprehensively experience manor culture is currently under construction. Furthermore, by exhibiting the collision of tradition and modernity as well as the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures during the early decades of the 20th Century, the vintage residential neighborhood has transformed into a natural museum offering food, accommodations, and recreation, all enhanced by a wide variety of visual treats.

Fan Jianchuan’s intentions in establishing the JMC were simple: He hoped to exhibit items from war to promote peace, present teachings from the past to develop a better future, recreate scenes of natural disasters to prompt preparedness, and collect items of folklore to preserve tradition.

Fan’s museum compound consists of 10 exhibition venues, seven of which are already open to the public, including the Mainstay Gallery, the Hall of the Front Lines of Battle, the Hall of the Heroes of the Flying Tigers, the Museum of Sichuan Army’s War of Resistance, Unyielding Prisoners of War Museum, Chinese Warrior Statues Square, and War Veterans’ Fingerprints Square.

Covering 1,382 square meters, the Hall of the Heroes of the Flying Tigers is divided into three sections with different themes. The first outlines the general situation of U.S. army’s aid to China during the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945). The second, the core of the hall, sheds light on the legendary history of American Volunteer Group (AVG), also known as the Flying Tigers, led by Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault. That section’s displays fall into three categories: a brief introduction to Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault and his Flying Tigers crewmen, heroic battles of the Flying Tigers, and the American volunteers’ life in China. The third, themed “Eternal Friendship,” commemorates the history of friendship between China and the U.S. through collectibles documenting various activities in honor of the alliance between the two nations during World War II, especially the contribution of veterans.

JMC’s “Red Era” complex is home to the Educated Youth Museum, Porcelain Museum, the Museum of Badges, Clocks and Seals, Living Necessities Museum, Memorial of Deng Xiaoping, and Mirrors Museum. Its “Folklore & Culture” series includes several museums on different subjects: Old Mansion Furniture, Centennial Photos, Happiness Culture, Delicate Penholders, Obsolete Smoking Sets and Gambling Devices, Foot-Binding Relics, and Traditional Trades.

To memorialize the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake that struck Sichuan on May 12, 2008, Fan spent eight days preparing and constructing a memorial hall, which officially opened to the public on June 12, 2008. Breaking from the traditional mode of exhibition, the Wenchuan Earthquake Museum features exhibits arranged chronologically through diaries documenting the month from May 12 to June 12, 2008, honoring the unforgettable moments from disaster to relief and reconstruction. Fan collected more than 1,000 photos and some 40,000 items from the most devastated sites as well as places where rescue brought touching scenes flavored with sweat and tears, evidencing tremendous bravery and universal love that Chinese people demonstrated in face of such a severe disaster.

Home to well-preserved vintage mansions, antique residential homes in western Sichuan architectural style, and a kaleidoscopic cluster of museums that tap the pulse of recent Chinese history, Anren is undoubtedly a magnetic town with much to explore.