【Tour】Best Museums Recommended in China
Study in China Union (Admissions.cn):
“Give me a museum and I'll fill it”, said Spanish Artist and Painter Pablo Picasso. Museums are three-dimensional encyclopedia. Visiting China museums is a great way to learn about China's history and culture. Here Admission.cn handpicked several China's best museums for your reference.
Editted by Admissions.cn.
Best Museums Recommended in China
I. The Palace Museum
The Forbidden City (UNESCO), situated north of the Tian'anmen Square, is historically and artistically one of the most comprehensive museum in China, and is world's largest imperial palace complex. The yellow-glazed tiles and ancient relics in the Forbidden City make it easy to feel like you're being transported back in time, when the city existed in all its imperial glory.
The Palace Museum in the Forbidden City has the country's largest collection of ancient art works, some of which are invaluable national treasures. Art works in the museum's collection total 1,052,653, including paintings, pottery, bronze wares, inscribed wares, toys, clocks and court documents.
II. Taipei's National Palace Museum
The Taipei Palace Museum and the famous Forbidden City in Beijing are derived from the same institution. The splendid architecture of the structure is modeled on the Forbidden City in Beijing and incorporates elements of traditional Chinese royal design in feudal society.
The Taipei Palace Museum houses large collection of priceless Chinese artifacts and artwork, including ancient bronze castings, calligraphy, scroll paintings, porcelain, jade, and rare books, many of which were possessions of the former imperial family. The full collection, which consists of some 650,000 pieces, spans many dynasties. Each exhibit, however, puts on display only about 1,700 pieces at a time. At this rate, assuming a duration of three months for each exhibit, it will take 100 years to cycle through the entire collection.
III. National Museum of China
The National Museum of China, a four-storeyed main building with two symmetrical wings, runs more than 300 meters north and south along the eastern side of Tian'anmen Square. The predecessors of the National Museum are two museums: the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of Chinese Revolution, which shared the same building complex. The building was one of ten famous architectures built in 1959 to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. The Museum of Chinese History was in the South Wing while the North Wing housed the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. They were both opened to the public in 1961.
Many of the items on display are national treasures and precious rarities.
IV. Shanghai Museum
The first thing to note about the Shanghai Museum (Shanghai Bowuguan) is its unusual design. The building, constructed in the 1990s, is supposed to resemble an ancient type of bronze cooking pot called a ding. It's a reference to the objects on display in the museum's five stories of rooms.
The museum's structure - a round building on a square base - also holds echoes of China's history. Ancient buildings in China were constructed like this because of the belief that heaven was round and the earth square.
The collection, although sensitively ordered, is so large as to be somewhat overwhelming. Pick and choose your areas, or you may run out of steam. Definitely take in some of the ceramics, through which you can trace China's history from the Neolithic Age onwards. There are also furniture, calligraphy, religious sculptures and jade to enjoy.
The Shanghai Museum is situated on the People's Square, in the Huangpu district. You can catch Lines 1 or 2 of the subway to People's Square station.
V. Nanjing Museum
The Nanjing Museum is located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. With an area of 70,000 square metres, it is one of the largest museums in China. The museum currently has over 400,000 items in its permanent collection, making it one of the largest in China. Especially notable is the museum's enormous collections of Ming and Qing imperial porcelain, which is among the largest in the world.
It was originally established in 1933, proposed by Mr. Cai Yuanpei (a modern democratic revolutionary and educationist), and now numbers among its extensive collections some 2,000 first class treasures of national and cultural interest. Should you be fascinated by the long and cultured history of China, then this Museum is a 'must-see' for you. Let it be an absolutely indispensable part of your itinerary.
VI. Shaanxi History Museum
Built in traditional Tang architectural style, Shaanxi History Museum is a much modernized national history museum in China.
The museum treasures more than 370,000 cultural relics, all of which are unearthed in Shaanxi province, including relics made of stone, bone, bronze, terra-cotta, china, jade, gold, silver and also murals, seals, calligraphy and paintings, etc. These relics can be traced back from over 1 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and they reflect the history and people life in many aspects from culture, art to science etc. Most of the relics are rare old treasures in the world.
VII. Liaoning Provincial Museum
The Liaoning Provincial Museum is located in Heping District ofShenyang City, Liaoning Province. The area of the Museum grounds and buildings totals 110,000 square meters. The heart of the Museum is a three-story exhibition hall that was designed by a German architect. In 1988, a new three-story white building was built inside the grounds that includes a large hall and a surrounding corridor.
Historical artifacts and ancient arts are the main i focus of the Museum's collections. These include some eighteen categories of objects: paintings and calligraphy, embroideries, woodblock prints, bronzes, ceramics, lacquerware, carvings, oracle bones, celadons, costumes, archaeological material, coins and currency, stelaes, old maps, ethnic minority artifacts, revolutionary artifacts, furniture, and assorted other items. Among these some were excavated and others were passed down through the ages, that is inherited, not recovered from the earth. The collections occupy an important position among museums' collections in China.
Painting and calligraphy collections include paintings by famous Tang-dynasty and Northern Song artists, and woodblock-print editions include the Ming-dynasty Album of the Ten-bamboo Studio, the first colored woodblock print in Chinese woodblock-print history.
The ceramics collections in the museum are also quite famous and valuable. Liao porcelain is unique in the art form for its treatment of colored glazes, but the collection also includes Liao monochromes such as the lovely Liao white porcelain. Many of the ceramic forms embody nomadic characteristics, and the glazes and colors are imbued with local character. Production methods continue the traditions of the Tang and Five dynasties kilns.
Two permanent collections are on display in the museum. One is an exhibit on Chinese history, and the other is a display of stone inscriptions. The former deals with overall Chinese history in general but also takes local Liao history into special consideration.
VIII. Henan Provincial Museum
The Henan Museum or Henan Provincial Museum, located inZhengzhou, Henan Province, China, is a history and art museum. It has a collection of more than 130,000 pieces of cultural relics through the ages. In addition to its collection of human history the museum is also home to many relics of natural history including dinosaur bones and fossils. Henan Museum's present building, which opened in 1997, occupies an area of more than 100,000 square feet, with a total floor space of 78,000 square feet.
At present the museum has a collection of more than 130,000 pieces of cultural relics treasures, of which more than 5,000 pieces are treasures of the first and second grades. Among them, the prehistoric cultural relics, bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and pottery and porcelain wares of the various dynasties in Chinese history possess most distinguishing features. Inside the museum, there are basic exhibition halls, specialized exhibition halls and provisional exhibition halls. For the first batch of exhibitions, two basic displays and six specialized displays are offered. They are rich in contents, presenting a spectacular sight to visitors.
IX. Shanxi Museum
The Shanxi Museum is the largest museum and cultural building in the province of Shanxi, China. The museum, located in Shanxi's provincial capital Taiyuan, is home to about 400,000 cultural relics and 110,000 old books. Since March 2008, admission is free with a valid ID.
The museum started off as the Education Library and Museum of Shanxi, which opened in October 9, 1919 as one of the earliest museums in China. Shortly after the Second Sino-Japanese War the institution's collections were heavily damaged and partially moved to Japan.
In September 1953, the museum became the Shanxi Provincial Museum. After the completion of the new building in 2005 it was officially renamed the Shanxi Museum.
X. Suzhou Museum
Founded in 1960 and originally located in the national historic landmark, Zhong Wang Fu palace complex, Suzhou Museum has been a highly-regarded regional museum with a number of significant Chinese cultural relics. A new museum designed by world famous architect I.M.Pei was completed in October 2006, covering over 10,700 square meter and located at the cross of Dongbei Street and Qimen Road. The design of this new museum visually complements the traditional architecture of Zhong Wang Fu. The new museum houses over 30000 cultural relics --- most notably for excavated artifacts, Ming and Qing Dynasty paintings and calligraphy, and ancient arts and crafts.
Under the design concept of "Chinese style with innovation, Suzhou style with creativity" and the idea of "not too high, not too large and not too abrupt", the museum was built to be a modern, artistic and comprehensive museum in terms of its selected site, and quality construction. Not only does it have the characteristics of a garden of Suzhou style, but also contains the simple geometric balance of the modern art as well as the exquisite structural layout in full function. The construction of the new museum makes excellent use of spaces for the museum to educate visitors on the subjects of culture, history and art. The fact that it is adjacent to a few classical gardens, such as the Humble Administrator's Garden, Zhong Wang Fu and the Lion Forest Garden, makes it become a historical, art and cultural complex within a few blocks, enriching one another.
The new Suzhou Museum exhibits four permanent collections related to this artistically flourishing era: Wu Treasures, Wu Pagoda Relics, Wu Arts and Crafts, and Wu Paintings and Calligraphy. At the north of the first floor, stands a thatched Song Pavilion, which is also a special exhibit. It is a duplication of a scholar's studio from Song Dynasty, depicting a simple but natural style. the gallery under the ground level is designated to occasionally display collections from other museums in China, and around the world.
The new Suzhou Museum is said to be the last design of Mr. I. M. Pei in his career. Therefore, not only does it become a monumental building in Suzhou, but also a significant construction, merging the traditional Chinese architectural design with the future. It enhances the protection of Suzhou cultural heritages, and enables Suzhou Museum to turn on a new page.
XI. Zhejiang Provincial Museum
Zhejiang Museum or Zhejiang Provincial Museum is a representative site of culture and humanity in East China. Visiting to Hangzhou, this is a must-see site among innumerous worthwhile cultural and natural attractions. Originally built in 1929 and used to be called Zhejiang Provincial-Level Museum of West Lake, Zhejiang Provincial Museum is the largest comprehensive center of literae humaniores in Zhejiang province for collecting, displaying and studying antiques and valuable articles of culture and history. The amount of collection is more than ten thousand.
The typical articles are pottery, lacquerwork, wooden handicraft, bone-ware and ivory-ware of Hemudu Culture Relics as well as the jadeware and silk products of Liangzhu Culture Relics. The highlights also include the bronze-ware, porcelains made in Yue Ceramic Kiln, Longquan Ceramic Kiln and imperial ceramic kilns of Southern Song Dynasty. In addition, the treasured ancient bronze-made mirrors of Shaoxing and Huzhou and the masterpieces or artworks of painters and calligraphists of Zhejiang province in Ming and Qing Dynasties are all available in collection of Zhejiang Museum. These treasures are famous and represent the cultural history of Zhejiang province.
XII. Shandong Provincial Museum
At the foot of the Thousand Buddha Hill (Qian Fo Shan), Shandong Provincial Museum covers the nature and history of the ancient Qi and Lu States.
From intricate bronze wares, tourists can learn the customs of various dynasties, such as the worship of Shang Dynasty gods, ancestor worship in the Zhou Dynasty, and Han Dynasty human relationships. In the natural collections, specimens cover 200 species. Among them, fossils of trilobite, the Taishan swallow, the dinosaur, and so on, influence knowledge in ancient biologic and geographic fields.
(The End.)
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