Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum is a box full of ancient Chinese art. It was originally established in December 1952 on Nanjing Road but later moved to the south of Henan Road right at the center of Shanghai in People's Square in 1959. The museum holds a collection of over 120,000 pieces of historical treasures in twelve different artistic categories.

Shanghai Museum also has a library that has 200,000 stocks of books installed, so if you are interested in learning about the history of Shanghai and China in general, this would be the right place to enrich your mind.

Shanghai Museum is especially famous for its bronze, arts and calligraphy exhibits that, for some, dates back thousands of years ago. As a world renowned place, the museum has published over eighty catalogues and won nineteen awards based on its research on preserved cultural relics.

One of the reasons this museum has gained world popularity, is because of the different technological features of the museum; these include multi-media guides, high definition graphic systems and an impressive audio tour of the museum. 

The Museum has eleven galleries and three exhibition halls, all of which are full of educational, cultural and historical materials. The Gallery of Ancient Chinese Bronze is one out of the eleven galleries which displays about 400 pieces of different kinds of Chinese bronze exhibits. This includes weapons, food storage and musical instruments that date back to the Xia Dynasty.

The Gallery of Ancient Chinese Jades exhibits over 400 pieces of different jade treasures. These are jade wares that were used in ceremonies on Hongshan Culture and Liangzhu Culture during the Neolithic Age.

The Gallery of Chinese Furniture is another gallery in the Shanghai Museum which displays pieces from the Ming and Qing Dynasty. It displays over 100 pieces of differently styled furniture. An interesting fact about this gallery is that one can see the style of furniture and relate them to the time when it was built. Furniture made in Ming Dynasty is known for its simplicity and graceful lined designs while pieces from the Qing Dynasty are noted for their superb carvings and extravagant decorations.

The Gallery of Ancient Chinese Ceramics has a display of over 500 pieces of priceless ceramics from the Neolithic era up to the time of the Qing Dynasty. This gallery serves as an introductory into Chinese ceramic art and other scientific researches about Chinese ceramics.

There are also other galleries that reflect the art of Chinese culture like the Gallery of Numismatics showcasing the history and development of Chinese coins. The Gallery of Ancient Chinese Paintings is one of the twelve galleries which have about 140 paintings on display. The Gallery of Chinese Seals is one which displays the different seals that were used in the Chinese history during the Qing Dynasty; and lastly, the Gallery of Ancient Chinese Sculpture showcases over a hundred pieces of sculptures made from wood, metal, clay, and stone.

The Shanghai Museum is a place for inquisitive tourists and scholars to learn more about the history of Shanghai and China. The Museum opens at 9 o’clock in the morning and closes by 5 o’clock in the evening.

China Tours which include this guide:

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