Try treasure hunting at Jiangyin Museum

Visitors to Jiangyin Museum will find more than the usual displays of ancient calligraphy, coins and pottery.

Sure, the 13,000-sq-m museum's 14 exhibition areas are well stocked with the staples but there are also many unique gems in its treasure trove. They include China's oldest excavated medical instruments, dating to about 1410 BC, a 5,000-year-old skeleton, witches' charms and a cannon used to defend Jiangyin from the invading Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900.

It's an incredible collection, considering that Jiangyin's strategic military position at a point where the Yangtze's banks stand 1.5 km apart has meant few relics have survived the multitude of wars that have repeatedly razed the area throughout history.