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Kathryn
Kathryn
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4 out of 5
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Shanghai Museum

  • October 2, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by cheese_cake from London, United Kingdom
Shanghai Museum

If you visit only one museum in China, make it this one. Although its collection cannot rival that of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, it is nonetheless very impressive—it has the largest collection of ancient Chinese bronze artifacts, for example. Exhibits are arranged by material, rather than dynasty, which is slightly unusual for a Chinese museum, but in fact aids understanding and appreciation. There are 4 to 5 floors of state-of-the-art galleries, and clear explanations/signs in Chinese and English. The attached gift shop is also very good, with a wide selection of books, in Chinese and English, on Chinese art, architecture, and history. The building itself, on People's Square, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese bronze vessel, the ding.

From journal Sexy Shanghai

Editor Pick

Shanghai Museum

  • January 23, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by kwasiak from Tucson, Arizona
Shanghai Museum

The Shanghai Museum is built to resemble an ancient bronze ding, which is a three-legged food vessel used for cooking and serving. The exhibits include Ancient Chinese Bronze, Ancient Chinese Jade, Calligraphy, Chinese Painting, and Ming and Qing Furniture.

The museum’s most famous gallery is the Ancient Chinese Bronze Gallery. The exhibit contains bronzes dating back to the 21st century BCE. Just a few of the types of bronze objects the museum displays are wine bottles, bowls, goblets, dings, stylized animal motifs of dragons, lions, and phoenixes, and bells.

My favorite gallery was the Ancient Chinese Jade Gallery. There were examples of jade from the simplest early carvings to later, more complex carving. The small jade discs used to worship heaven were examples of some of the earliest and simplest carvings, dating back 5,000 years. I was really amazed at the intricate carving of some of the larger pieces. I cannot imagine men carving these using the ancient technology of bamboo drills, abrasive sand, and garnets crushed in water. Although a lot of people thought the bronzes showed the advanced ancient Chinese civilization, the jade was what made me realize it the most.

Of course, it would not be a tourist destination without a shop or two. The gift shops contained everything from books on the exhibits (some were even in English), pins, postcards (a whole wall of ones to choose from), magnets, and replicas of some of the items in the exhibits. At the gift shop on the top floor of the museum, there was a machine that would engrave a coin with an image of the museum. You could get it to say anything you wanted. I put Beijing Bowling Classic (the official name of my trip) and the date. A lot of people put the names of their friends and family with their birth dates.

From journal Shanghai: Paris of the East

Editor Pick

To Recall the Ancient China

  • October 7, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by shammiyap from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To Recall the Ancient China

Established in 1952, the Shanghai Museum covers 38,000 square metres and is 29.5m in height with five floors on the ground and two floors underground. It houses 120,000 pieces of works of arts in collection.

The building itself is a stunning $700-million masterpiece, which is specially designed to recall an ancient ding – a three-legged food/wine vessel used for cooking and serving. The entrance is guarded by a row of lions and mythological beasts.

The main galleries are located at the first to fourth floors, which can be accessed by an escalator.

The First Floor
1. Ancient Chinese Bronze Gallery
2. Ancient Chinese Sculpture Gallery

The Second Floor
1. Ancient Chinese Ceramics Gallery
2. Zande Lou Ceramics Gallery

The Third Floor
1. Chinese Painting Gallery
2. Chinese Calligraphy Gallery
3. Chinese Seal Gallery

The Fourth Floor
1. Chinese Minority Nationalities’ Art Gallery
2. Ancient Chinese Jade Gallery
3. Chinese Coin Gallery
4. Chinese Ming & Qing Furniture Gallery
5. Room of Ancient Central Asian Coins on the Silk Road

You may need a half-day to cover all of them, and the fourth floor will take more time than the others with many more displays. My personal suggestion is to start from the fourth floor to the first floor, so that you don’t have to waste time getting down to the ground floor once you have finished.

Photography is allowed in most of the galleries.

Entrance Fee:
RMB20 for adults or RMB5 for students

Opening Time:
9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (last entry at 4pm)

From journal The Old and New Shanghai

Shanghai History Museum

  • June 14, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by nyc_camy from kaohsiung
Shanghai History Museum

I was surprised by the extent of the museum. On the ground floor, it seemed like only a display of cars/transportations. I thought it may be a waste of money. However, there were about 4 different areas of this museum. The first one was the cars. The second was the scenes from the old China from different dynasties. One was of the opium war period when people just laid around smoking opium, another was where the apothecary still used abacus to calculate how much to charge. Then afterwards, it was a more modern display section of miniature buildings and how the foreigners came to reside in Shanghai and building all the different European style buildings (at the Bund). Then there was an area for the old Shanghai posters, the tiny shoes, and other various things that represent Shanghai. The last section was a temporary display. It was a lot of information about the Silk Road.

Most of the display's description were in Chinese, so foreigners may not understand. But the wax, the cars, the various things are still interesting to look at.

From journal Shanghai

Editor Pick

Shanghai Museum

  • October 28, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Jenn966 from Hamilton, New Jersey
Shanghai Museum

The Shanghai Museum has a bit of everything that is China. In galleries ranging over four floors, you will find a wide variety of items depicting life in China over the centuries.

As is my habit, I decided to see the museum from the top down. The fourth floor housed, among other things, a display of some beautiful items of the ethnic people of China. The vast majority of Chinese people belong to the Han ethnicity, but a wide range of other cultures have been recognized by the Chinese government as having "special" cultural significance. The Shanghai Museum and the Museum of Ethnic People in Guilin celebrate the differences in dress, music and culture of the diverse ethnic groups. The costumes and jewelry on display are very different in this section are very different than those of Han manufacture seen elsewhere.

Other special collections include a large display of jade items and one of pottery. Chops, or seals bearing the carved name of the people who owned them, are shown in a carefully designed exhibit that demonstrates how they changed over time. Coins and weapons are similary shown.

I enjoyed the display of furniture, most of it from the 16th and 17th centuries. There were two rooms of furniture that had been set up to represent a calligrapher's workshop and the reception room of a noble house. Other pieces are shown individually, allowing you to examine the handicraft up close.

Cameras are allowed throughout the museum. I didn't even get a reproaching glance for using my flash. The museum is relatively new, and I think the curator and staff are happy to see people taking pictures to share the experience and encourage others to visit.

More information about the ethnic minorities can be found here (I apologize for any political agenda, but it has a good description and lots of pictures).

From journal First Impressions of Shanghai

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