Shanghai Museum

People's Square, only about five blocks from our Hotel, was the hub of today's activities. The Shanghai Museum on the south end of People's Square, houses four floors of Chinese art and artifacts. I was particularly taken by the exhibit of cast bronze on the ground floor. The level of craft and detail present in pieces that are 3ooo years old is humbling. I think most of the pieces were from the Zhou, Qin and Hahn dynasties - roughly 1100 BC to 200 AD.
What artifacts will remain of our contemporary culture, 3000 years from now? It seems like today's artifacts for the future may not have a physical manifestation, and are not of any particular nation or culture. While there is still a richness of cultural individuality in this world, the great accomplishments of the information era have no durable artifact.
Will we leave behind a trail of computers? I can't fathom how our world will be remembered 3000 years from now. I look at the Bronze pieces of ancient China with a certain awe and respect. Will today's accomplishments be viewed the same way? The pessimist in me doubts that future generations will have much respect for the artifacts we leave behind.