As a country steeped in culture, history, and traditions, China has no shortage of museums that tell stories of its past, present, and future. From ancient relics to modern art, these museums are a window to the country's rich heritage and offer a glimpse into its diverse cultures. With so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming to decide which ones to visit. In this article, we've rounded up the top 20 popular museums in China that are definitely worth your time and attention.
01 The Palace Museum
The Palace Museum is an exceptional museum. Established in 1925, it was built on the foundations of the imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties - the Forbidden City. After six hundred years of rise and fall, glory and shame, the doors to these royal palaces finally opened to the public. The Palace Museum boasts a collection that is unparalleled, it houses one of a kind artifacts within wooden structures preserved from Imperial China's largest palace complex in its entirety.
02 National Museum of China
The National Museum of China is the highest institution representing the state's collection, research, display, and interpretation of artifacts that reflect China's outstanding traditional culture, revolutionary culture and socialist advanced cultural representative objects. It is the country’s highest historical and cultural art palace.
The museum currently houses over 1.43 million relics covering various categories such as ancient artifacts, modern and contemporary items, artworks, etc. The collection system is complete with a huge historical span; it showcases diverse material forms including oracle bones, bronze ware, porcelain ware, jade carvings, gold and silver wares, coins, Buddhist sculptures, etc., in addition to rare books from antiquity onwards up to rubbings of stone inscriptions on tombstones or tablets; seals; calligraphy & paintings; sculptures; lacquerware furniture; brick-carving/stone-carving/tile-cutting works; enamelware; glassware; silk fabrics; handicrafts; old photographs, ethnic/cultural/folklore revolution-related relics among others.
With unique features that are distinctively Chinese, the National Museum of China fully demonstrates and witnesses more than 5000 years civilization legacy in all its brilliance.
03 Shaanxi History Museum
The Shaanxi History Museum is China's first large-scale modern national museum, known as the "Pearl of the Ancient Capital and Treasure of Chinese Civilization". The museum has a collection of over 1.7 million relics spanning more than one million years in time, from simple stone tools used by early humans to various objects used in social life before 1840. These artifacts are not only abundant and diverse but also have high artistic value and wide-ranging historical significance. Among them, there are 762 first-class cultural relics (sets) and 18 national treasures which puts it among the top museums in China.
04 Shanghai Museum
The Shanghai Museum is a large museum of ancient Chinese art with a focus on collecting, researching, exhibiting to visitors on China's ancient artworks.
The museum has nearly 1.02 million relics in its collection, including over 140,000 precious artifacts. The museum's collection includes 31 categories of cultural relics such as bronze ware, ceramics, calligraphy & paintings etc., as well as oracle bones; seals; currency; jade carvings; furniture; embroidery works; lacquerware goods; bamboo/wooden materials & teeth/horns; ethnic minority items among others, with the most outstanding pieces being those made from bronze wares, ceramics and calligraphy/paintings.
05 Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum
Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, based on the Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses and the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Site Park (Lishan Park), is a large-scale site museum.
It is mainly based on the mausoleum site and numerous accompanying burial pits, integrating education, scientific research, tourism and leisure activities into a public cultural space. The museum protects and displays archaeological sites and their environments while functioning as an educational platform for visitors interested in learning about history.
06 Nanjing Museum
The Nanjing Museum is the first large comprehensive museum of China. It follows a "one museum, six galleries" layout consisting of the History Gallery, Special Exhibition Gallery, Digital Gallery, Art Gallery, Intangible Cultural Heritage Gallery, and the Republic of China Gallery.
The collection includes artifacts ranging from the Paleolithic period to contemporary times with both national and regional pieces on display. The collection comprises items that have been passed down through imperial courts as well as those discovered through archaeological excavations or donated by society - all representing valuable works of art throughout different dynasties that are highly regarded in academic circles both domestically and abroad.
07 Beijing Museum of Natural History
The Beijing Museum of Natural History is the first large-scale natural history museum built by China after its founding. The most mysterious building in the museum is the "Tian Jiabing Building", a specimen building funded jointly by Mr. Tian Jiabing, a Hong Kong businessman, and the Beijing Municipal Government; it houses 321,829 specimens that are considered unique both domestically and internationally.
08 Tianjin Natural History Museum
The Tianjin Museum of Natural History was established in 1914 and was originally known as the Musée Hoangho Paiho. It consists of four functional areas: exhibition halls, collection storage, administrative offices, and a botanical garden. The main building is shaped like a seashell with a pearl inside, symbolizing that the museum is a pearl on the coast of Bohai Sea. With its long history, rich collections, and outstanding scientific research achievements, the museum ranks at the forefront among similar museums.
09 Hubei Provincial Museum
Established in 1953, the Hubei Provincial Museum became one of the eight key national museums jointly built by the central and local governments. In February 2023, it separated from the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to operate independently. The museum's collection is renowned both domestically and abroad for its complete system, rich quantity, exquisite quality, and distinctive regional features with a focus on bronze ware from Shang/Zhou dynasties; lacquerware items from Warring States/Qin/Han periods; Chu/Qin/Han bamboo slips inscribed with writings as well as gold/jade artifacts unearthed from pre-Qin/Ming dynasty royal tombs.
10 Hunan Museum
The Hunan Museum is a large-scale historical and artistic museum that mainly reflects the regional civilization of Hunan. It is one of the eight key national museums jointly built by the central and local governments.
The museum's collection is particularly renowned for its artifacts unearthed from Han dynasty tombs in Mawangdui, bronze ware from Shang/Zhou dynasties, Chu culture relics, ceramics from various dynasties, calligraphy & paintings as well as modern and contemporary cultural relics.
11 Mukden Palace
The Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum, originally built and used as a royal palace in the early Qing Dynasty, was established in 1625. Covering an area of over 60,000 square meters with 114 well-preserved ancient buildings and more than 500 rooms.
The museum is renowned for its collection of ancient court art treasures and is located on the site of a former imperial palace. Its collection contains an abundance of valuable court artworks that are highly regarded both domestically and internationally.
12 Chengdu Museum
The Chengdu Museum is the largest urban museum in southwest China. It carries the brand of "Chengdu Chinese Shadow Puppet Museum" and was awarded by the State Council as Sichuan's first and only national-level museum in 2006.
The museum has three permanent exhibitions: Chengdu Historical and Cultural Exhibition (Ancient Times, Modern Times, Folk Customs), Chinese Shadow Puppets Exhibition, and Man and Nature: Belin Donation Exhibition. With a collection of nearly 300,000 items ranging from the Neolithic period to the Republic era including historical relics, shadow puppets & wooden dolls exhibits as well as fine modern calligraphy & painting works among others forming a relatively complete collection series.
13 Zhejiang Museum of Natural History
The Zhejiang Museum of Natural History is dedicated to the protection and research of natural heritage, biodiversity, and ecological culture exhibition as well as promoting ecological cultural dissemination under the theme "Nature and Humanity". The museum seeks to explore the connection between humanity and nature from a local perspective.
Located at No. 6 West Lake Cultural Square in Hangzhou, this museum consists of five major exhibition areas: Earth's Life Stories, Rich & Unique Biological World, Green Zhejiang, Animal Exhibition and Adolescent Health Education Exhibition. These exhibitions are centered around the birth and development of life on earth that showcase its magnificence to visitors.
14 Henan Museum
Founded in 1927, the Henan Museum is one of the earliest museums established in China. The museum's collection comprises over 170,000 sets (pieces) of cultural relics, with prehistoric artifacts, bronze ware from Shang/Zhou dynasties, ceramics from various dynasties as well as jade carvings and stone inscriptions being its most distinctive features.
The number of exquisite cultural relics is vast; they encompass a wide variety and are characterized by high quality and great value. The Henan Museum serves as a cultural art treasure trove that bears witness to the development trajectory of Chinese civilization while showcasing China's historical evolution.
15 Suzhou Museum
The Suzhou Museum is located in the Zhongwang Mansion, and was designed by I.M. Pei. It specializes in archaeological artifacts unearthed over the years, as well as calligraphy and painting works from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and exquisite handicrafts. As a comprehensive museum of local history, culture, and art of Suzhou City, it collects exhibits for display while conducting research to disseminate its findings.
The West Building of the Suzhou Museum is a branch established by the Suzhou Museum situated at Lion Mountain Plaza in the Gaoxin District of Suzhou City. Designed by GMP Architects, this building houses five permanent exhibition halls: A General History Exhibition Hall; The Su Embroidery & Crafts Hall; An Exploration Experience Hall; An International Cooperation Hall; And The Su Colorful Life Exhibition Hall.
16 Capital Museum
The Capital Museum is located at No. 16 Fuxingmenwai Street, Xicheng District, Beijing. It is a large comprehensive museum that integrates collection, exhibition, research, archaeology, public education and cultural exchange under one roof.
The museum covers an area of 24,800 square meters with a total construction area of 63,390 square meters spread across five floors above ground and two underground levels. As a provincial-level comprehensive museum in China and one of the largest museums in the Beijing area.
On May 18th 2006 the new building of the Capital Museum was officially opened to visitors which includes collections such as bronze ware; ceramics; Buddhist statues among other precious artifacts. By the end of 2019 it had collected more than 124808 pieces/sets with over half being rare or valuable collections totaling up to about 63170 pieces/sets.
17 Xi'an Museum
The Xi'an Museum consists of three parts: the museum, Tang Jianfu Temple ruins, and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. It is an urban museum that combines cultural relic collection, scientific research, social education, and garden leisure. The main building of the Xi'an Museum was designed by Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Zhang Jinqiu and serves as its core structure.
The basic exhibition showcases Xi'an's ancient history as a capital city for 13 dynasties over more than a thousand years. Additionally, it highlights over three-thousand years of urban development history along with models representing various historic periods such as those from the Zhou Dynasty through to Ming & Qing Dynasties; showcasing the historical context of Xi’an’s urban development trajectory throughout these periods.
18 Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion Museum
The Tianyi Pavilion is the oldest existing private library in China and one of the three oldest family libraries in the world. It was built between 1561-1566, during the Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty as a personal collection room for Fan Qin, who served as minister of war at that time. With nearly 300,000 volumes including more than 80,000 rare editions and ancient texts it is considered an unparalleled treasure trove.
Tianyi Pavilion Museum is a themed museum with its core focus on book culture based on the historic collections housed within Tianyi Pavilion Library itself. The pavilion's profound cultural heritage extends to include its beautiful garden design artistry; displaying traditional architectural styles which are both simple and elegant making it an ideal destination for visitors worldwide seeking convenience combined with historical richness to learn about this unique site.
19 Chengdu Jinsha Site Museum
The Chengdu Jinsha Site Museum is comprised of two main buildings: the Relic Hall and Exhibition Hall.
The Relic Hall was excavated from the large-scale sacrificial site at Jinsha, which is currently China's most complete and longest-lasting preserved sacrificial site with an abundance of relics. The hall predominantly showcases original ecological protection displays from the excavation sites. Visitors can experience first-hand a grand riverfront sacrificial scene reminiscent of ancient Shu Kingdom 3000 years ago, learn about meticulous excavation processes since 2001, and witness numerous precious cultural artifacts unearthed in situ.
Exhibition Hall located on the north bank of the Modi River, mainly focuses on important ruins and artifacts using modern technology to showcase various aspects such as ecology, architectural style, production life, funeral customs as well as religious rituals which comprehensively reflect upon the brilliance and glory that was once present within ancient Shu’s culture at its peak during this period.
20 Zigong Dinosaur Museum
The Zigong Dinosaur Museum is a large-scale museum built on the famous "Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site" and was China's first professional dinosaur museum, as well as one of the world's three largest dinosaur fossil museums.
The collection of fossils includes almost all known species of dinosaurs from 201 million to 145 million years ago during the Jurassic period. It is currently considered to be the world's most comprehensive collection and exhibition site for Jurassic dinosaur fossils, with its specimens being evaluated by National Geographic magazine as "the best dinosaur museum in the world."
In conclusion, China's museums are a treasure trove of knowledge and wonder, offering visitors a chance to explore its art, culture, and history in-depth. Whether it's a visit to the world-class The Palace Museum or an exploration of Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, each museum on this list tells a unique story that showcases the country's rich heritage and diverse cultures. So, whether you're a history buff, an art lover, or just curious about China's past and present, be sure to add these 20 popular museums to your travel itinerary.
