TOP Eight National Museums in China

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum is a top national museum of ancient art of China, which collects and displays the works of art of ancient China. Covering an area of 12,000 square meters, the collections of Shanghai Museum include bronze, sculptures, china, calligraphy, paintings, coin, jade article, furniture and relics of ethnic minorities. Shanghai Museum is a comprehensive museum with 144,142 valuable cultural relics.

At Shanghai Museum, you can appreciate the beauty of the relics and learn the history and development of the bronze, seal art and china. Tourists can feel the art of sculptures, calligraphy, paintings and furniture. You can see the historical relics thousands of years ago at Shanghai Museum.

Shanghai Museum

Nanjing Museum

Nanjing Museum is a comprehensive historical and artistic national museum in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. With 371,032 valuable cultural relics, the quantity of rare relics is the second in China, second only to the Palace Museum. So if you have enough time, we suggest you leave a day to visit the Nanjing Museum.

Some of the relics of Nanjing Museum traces back to Old Stone Age. The relics covers national and local. You can learn about the history of Jiangsu at the Historical Museum. At the Republican China Museum, you can feel the Nanjing city during the period of Republican China and people’s life at that time. At the Artistic Museum, you can see the calligraphy, sculptures, paintings and folk custom exhibition of Jiangsu. You can learn about the intangible cultural heritage in Jiangsu at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum. At the Digital Exhibition Hall, you can learn about the history and development of Chinese culture by the advanced technology. Tourists can feel the history, learn the stories of the relics and know more about the Chinese culture by visiting the national museums.

Nanjing Museum

Hunan Museum

Hunan Museum is a comprehensive historical and artistic national museum with more than 180,000 relics. Covering an area of 49,000 square meters, Hunan Museum is one of the most famous museums in China and the largest comprehensive museum in Hunan Province. Among the bronze, china, calligraphy and paintings, the most characteristic collections of Hunan Museum is the relics of Western Han Tombs at Mawangdui in Changsha.

At Hunan Museum, you can learn about the history of Hunan and the life of Hunan people. At the Museum of Western Han Tombs at Mawangdui in Changsha, you can visit the Xin Zhui’s cadaver, whose cadaver is still complete after thousands of years. It is Xin Zhui astonishing the world at the time when she is discovered. Other relics from Mawangdui are also rare and precious like the silk fabric, clothes, paintings, instruments and weapons.

Hunan Museum

Liaoning Provincial Museum

Liaoning Provincial Museum is a comprehensive museum, which is known as rich collections and unique characteristics. Covering an area of 83,200 square meters, Liaoning Provincial Museum collects rare calligraphy, paintings, bronze, china and coins.

At the Liaoning Provincial Museum, you can know about the history, development and the local characteristics of Liaoning Province. The calligraphy written by famous calligraphers and paintings by famous painters in Liaoning Provincial Museum are precious, which are with high artistic and historical value. Some of the relics are really exquisite for appreciating. Also, you can learn about the ethnic minorities of northern China at the Liaoning Provincial Museum. If you are calligraphy and paintings lovers, you should not miss the Liaoning Provincial Museum.

Liaoning Provincial Museum

Henan Museum

Henan Museum is a comprehensive national museum in Henan Province. Covering an area of more than 100,000 square meters, there are more than 170,000 relics in Henan Museum. The cultural relics include bronze, china, jade article and stone carvings. The cultural relics are numerous, complete in variety, high in taste and great in value. They are cultural and artistic treasures that witness the development of Chinese civilization and show the historical development of China.

At the Henan Museum, you can pay to listen to the explanation of the staffs to learn more about the relics. Also, there is performance of the ancient music like the chime bells, which produce melodious tune. There are many other exquisite relics in the museum, which are worth visiting carefully and slowly.

Henan Museum

Shaanxi History Museum

Shaanxi History Museum is the first modern national museum in China. Covering an area of 65,000 square meters, Shaanxi History Museum collects 1,700,000 relics. Cultural relics in Shaanxi History Museum are not only large in number and variety, but also of high taste and wide value. It is a world-class national museum approved by the UNESCO. With collections of bronze, wall paintings of Tang Dynasty, pottery figurine of past dynasties, china, gold, silver, jade article and coins of past dynasties, the Shaanxi History Museum shows you the extensive and profound Chinese culture.

At the Shaanxi History Museum, you can learn about the ancestors of Chinese like Lantian Man and Banpo people. As the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty, you can learn about the history, politics, economy and culture of Shaanxi at that time. The Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses excavated in the Qin Tomb are known as the world’s eighth wonder. The prosperous scene of Han Dynasty, Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty have been displayed at the Shaanxi History Museum. At the Shaanxi History Museum, you can learn about the stories behind the relics.

Shaanxi History Museum

Hubei Provincial Museum

Hubei Provincial Museum is a national museum in Hubei Province. Covering an area of 114,000 square meters, Hubei Provincial Museum collects 240,000 relics. The collections of Hubei Provincial Museum is rich and large, and we recommend you to leave a day to visit the museum. If you don’t have enough time, you can first visit the TOP 10 collections in the museum.

The fossil skull of Yunxian people in Hubei traces back to Old Stone Age. Zenghouyi Chime Bells, important instrument in ancient China, are from the Warring States Period. The sword of Gou Jian, King of State of Yue, is from late Spring and Autumn Period. The sword didn’t get rusty after thousands of years. The Meiping-vase decorated in blue-and-white with scenes of the for “cherishes” in panels is exquisite and beautiful with the four paintings on it.

Hubei Provincial Museum

Zhejiang Provincial Museum

Zhejiang Provincial Museum is a comprehensive historical national museum in Zhejiang Province. Covering an area of 20,400 square meters, Zhejiang Provincial Museum collects more than 100,000 relics. Among them, relics of Hemudu Culture, jade article of Liangzhu Culture, china, Buddhist relics, mirrors, gold, silver, coins, calligraphy and paintings are all precious historical relics with local characteristics.

You can learn the revolutionary history of Zhejiang by visiting the relics, pictures, painting and sculptures. You can also learn the history of Zhejiang and feel the charm of Zhejiang in different periods through the display of relics at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. You can know about the making and using of the ancient instruments at the museum.

Zhejiang Provincial Museum