Best Travel Guide to Shanghai Museum

The city of Shanghai has around 72 museums amongst which the Shanghai Museum is the most popular. This "glassy" Shanghai Museum is located at the People's Square near Nanjing Road and has an extensive collection of relics from different eras of history. There are over 120,000 pieces of these artifacts that have a story to tell. The most famous artifacts here are the 400 beautifully decorated bronzes.

To reach Shanghai Museum by Metro board onto Line 1, Line 2, or Line 8 and alight at People's Square Station. Come out of the station from Exit 1 and walk towards the south for 5 minutes to reach the Shanghai Museum.

If you prefer a bus to reach Shanghai Museum, you have two convenient options.

1. Take bus numbers 46, 49, 123, 145, 312, 451 or the Shangchuan Special Line and alight at People's Square Station. The museum is just a couple of minutes’ walk from here.

2. Take City Sightseeing Bus on Line 1 or Line 2 and alight at the museum.

Reaching the museum in a Taxi: Taxi is the most convenient means of transportation in Shanghai. The fare is also reasonable. The general fare is14 yuan for the first 3 kilometers and 2.50 yuan for each additional kilometer up to 15 kilometers.

The Shanghai Museum is open 6 days a week from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 A.M. to 17:00 P.M. But you will be allowed to enter inside only up to 4 P.M. The Museum is closed on all Mondays as well as public holidays.

Entry to the Shanghai Museum is free, but it is mandatory to take an entrance ticket. The museum only gives 8000 free tickets every day. It would take about 2 hours to see the entire museum and tickets for some special exhibits are sold separately. Ticket Desk is located at the Southern Entrance of the Museum and also has Consultative service, Audio guide Equipment rental service along with various IC cards available for sale.

The museum is equipped with special driveways and elevators for the specially-abled.

The museum is equipped with Interactive and multimedia touch-screen systems in the hall of the 1st floor and galleries to guide you.

You can avail advanced digital audio tours for the museum’s permanent collection in many languages including Chinese, Korean, English, Italian, Japanese, German, Spanish, and French. The Audio hearing set is also available on rent for RMB 20 yuan with a deposit of RMB 300 yuan for adult set and RMB 10 yuan with a deposit of RMB 300 yuan for children.

Stowaway your baggage at the two cloakrooms available in the museum. One cloakroom is available on the southern entrance, and another one is available at the northern entrance. Wheelchairs and Lost and found service are also available at the cloakroom desk.

If you are hungry you can grab a bite at the visitor restaurant located outside the southern entrance on the side of Xizang Road. There is also the Shanghai Museum Restaurant located inside the museum that serves Chinese and western meals. If all that exploring made you hungry and are looking for a light snack, stop by You Yun Xuan tea house on the 2^nd floor that serves Chinese tea, coffee, juices, and dim sum.

The Shanghai Museum has one of the significant collections of ancient Chinese relics from over 5000 years ago. Some of these artistic relics are dated back to the Qing dynasty. This museum’s exhibits are divided into 11 different galleries and also has 3 exhibition halls. The eleven galleries cover the major categories of Chinese art and showcase Ancient Bronze relics, Ancient Ceramics, Paintings, Calligraphy, Sculptures, unique Jade figurines, Coins, furniture dating back to Ming and Qing dynasty, Royal Seals, and exhibits related to minority Nationalities. Do not miss visiting the below galleries:

The Bronze collection of over 400 exquisite pieces of the Shang and Zhou dynasties tells us a lot about these ancient civilizations. Most of these beautiful Bronze collections were gathered during the metal-gathering campaign of the Great Leap Forward Revolution. The Shanghai Museum rescued the bronzeware that were confiscated or donated and were sent to be melted down during the Great Leap Forward Revolution. Set of ritual Bronze vessels constitute a significant part of these collections and are from 1650 BCE. These decorated vessels with elaborate patterns were deposited as grave goods in the tombs of royalty and the nobility.

While you are here, make sure you visit the ancient Ceramics gallery. The Ceramics collection here is a special Museum treasure. The collection features the more than 500 pieces are artwork from dynasties of different timelines, such as the Painted and Gray pottery from the Neolithic Age, the Primitive Celadon from the Shang dynasty, The Mature Celadon from the East Han Dynasty and the well-known tri-colored glazed pottery from the Tang Dynasty. Most of these ceramics are glazed with blue, white and black colors.

Step into painting gallery of the Shanghai Museum to completely immerse yourself in an ancient and graceful garden of traditional Chinese paintings. More than 120 pieces of outstanding paintings of artists dated back to the Tang dynasty to the modern days are exhibited here and they depict the unique historic art scene of china. The gallery has some unique masterpieces like the ‘Hermits.’ Also known as ‘Gaoyi Tu,’ this silk painting hand scroll belongs to Tang Dynasty and dates back to 705 AD - 907 AD period. It is the only authentic work of Sun Wei remaining in the world.

Chinese calligraphy has always been a famous art since ancient times. Shanghai Museum has a collection of typical works from the thousands of years ago dated back to the Qing dynasty. Take a moment to appreciate the brilliant writing of all styles. One of the most treasurable calligraphy relics is the Ya Tou Wan Tie a famous cursive script work of Wang Xianzhi that shows pill reducing edema in less than 20 characters. Another must-see here is The Red Cliff Ode (Chi Bi Fu) dating back to1502 AD. written by the famous Zhu Yunming.

The Jade gallery of Shanghai Museum proves that China has the Jade Manufacturing history for more than 7000 years. The country of Jade lives up to its reputation through the beautiful jade wares here that showcase delicate carvings about the magical tale of ancient China. The Shanghai Museum is the proud owner of the world’s only Jade ‘Divine Figure’. The 10.3cm tall Jade Divine Figure is more than 4,200 years old and is made with the best quality, translucent jade material. This figure wears a crown and ear ornaments, with the hands in front of the chest, which is regarded as the image of the ancient wizard. There are other outstanding Jade works on display like the Ornaments on Funerary Face Covering, The Hindustan Octagonal Case that is Inlaid with Gems and Gu with the Three Chi-dragons Design.

To make the most out of your time in the museum, take the map of the museum and plan your route accordingly. The typical course to cover the galleries of the museum will be to first see the Bronze Gallery and Sculpture gallery on the first floor and then move to the second floor to include the splendid Ceramics. Cover the Hermits painting of Sun Wei along with many other paintings and the calligraphic works of cursive writing on the third floor. You can also explore the seals of ancient China on the same level. The 4^th floor that showcases jade wares and currency, along with furniture in Ming and Qing dynasties and multiple items of Chinese minority nationalities, is a must-see.

The City of Shanghai has more than 72 museums. Let us look at some of the top museums in Shanghai.

The first one on our list is the Shanghai Art Palace. Also known as the Shanghai Art Museum, this museum has over 80,000 exhibits, the central theme being the Chinese modern art. The exhibitions include work of the late 19^th century modern artists like Zhang Daqian, Ren Bonian and also Wu Changshuo. The museum also showcases unique oil paintings, woodcut works, picture storybooks, and Spring festival paintings. Just like the Shanghai Museum, this museum is also open 6 days a week from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 A.M. to 17:00 P.M. But, you will be allowed to enter inside only upto 4 P.M. The Museum is closed on all Mondays as well as public holidays. This vast museum has an exhibition area of about 64,000 Square meters, and the entry is free.

This museum is dedicated to depicting the history and development of the city of Shanghai. The exhibits include about 18,000 objects and over 1300 relics of old artifacts and wax figures. You can stroll in the mock streets of this 10,000 Square kilometers museum and even stop for a photo op at its shop models or bar scenes. The exhibits include the once upon a time cars, and the history as to how Shanghai has emerged from once upon a time small port to this big city. The Museum is open from 9:00 A.M. to 17:30 P.M. and has an entry fee of 35 yuan.

This Science and Technology Museum is one of the best museums in the city after the Shanghai Museum. The museum will entertain you for a whole afternoon with its unique display of science and technology. If you are traveling with kids, this museum is undoubtedly a must-visit. The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum has 12 exhibition areas. There are 5 areas on the first floor that include Rain Forests of the Yunnan and Earth’s Crust Exploration that gives you lot of insight into the geographical science of the earth. The Second floor has 4 exhibition areas that include an exhibit that interest kids of all ages like the Earth, World of Robots and the World of Spiders. The 3 exhibit areas of the 3^rd floor have the latest in science and technology like the interactive Space Navigation Area and Exploration Trip through the Digestive Tract, that provides a unique learning experience for your little ones. The museum is also open 6 days a week from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 A.M. to 17:00 P.M. But, you will be allowed to enter inside only up to 4 P.M. The Museum is closed on all Mondays as well as public holidays. The entry fee for this museum is 30 yuan.

There are several other exhibitions in the city like the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center that will tell the story of how far the city has progressed in the past decades.

Shanghai is a vast city and has a lot to offer apart from the many museums. While you are here, do try out the world’s fastest train the Maglev and get a feel of the super modern Shanghai too. You can also Cruise along the Huangpu River on your way to The Bund. The Yuyuan Garden is also one of the must-visit destination owing to its green space, decorative bridges and colorful pagodas. Stroll around in the Watertown of Zhujiajiao and visit the Shanghai Disney Resort.