Shanghai Museum
Shanghai Museum is a major gallery of ancient Chinese arts with over 100,000 cultural artifacts, including outstanding bronze, chinaware, calligraphy, and painting collections. The newly built dome-shaped building with a square foundation, located south of Shanghai's downtown People Square, looks spectacular, creatively integrating ancient culture and contemporary style. There are three exhibition halls and twelve special halls on the four levels above and two beneath.
On the first floor, there is an exhibition hall and exhibitions of Ancient Chinese Bronze (1200 sq m) and Sculpture (640 sq m), with over 400 exquisite bronzes displayed in elegant wooden cabinets in a deep green ambience, as well as over 120 figurines of woodcarvings, pottery sculptures, gold and bronze Buddha statues from the Northern Wei, Sui, and Tang Dynasties. The most valuable treasure is a stone Buddha statue from the Tang Dynasty that is missing one arm and is regarded as the Oriental Venus.
On the second floor, there is another exhibition hall and Gallery of Ancient Pottery (1300 sq m), which displays over 500 porcelains from various periods and dynasties, including polychrome and grey pottery from the Neolithic Age, celadon in Eastern Han, tri-color glazed ceramics during Tang, imperial ceramic in Song, Jin, and Liao Dynasties, and ancient blue china from the Shang, Zhou, Spring & Autumn Period, and Warring States Period. Go to the Art Gallery of Ancient Chinese Painting (1200 sq m), Seals (380 sq m), and Calligraphy on the third floor. The writings of Wang Xianzhi, Tang Gaoxian, and Huai Su are classics, and the drawings of Tang Sunwei and Song Liangkai are rare Chinese treasures among the 120 artifacts. Gallery of Ancient Chinese Seal is the pioneer pavilion specializing in more than ten thousand classic and artistic seal boutiques.
The highest location on level four gives the most galleries of National Craft (700sq m), Past Chinese Jade, Ming & Qing Furniture (700sq m), and Chinese Ancient Currency (730sq m), allowing visitors to quickly become acquainted with the diversity of ancient livings. The Gallery of National Craft houses around 600 exotic ethnic handcrafts, clothing, silk embroideries, metalwork, sculptures, pottery, lacquer, bamboo weaving, and masks. The Silk Road's Ancient Coin Room is home to almost 7000 unique coins from diverse materials and dynasties, revealing the processing of Chinese currency and the history of economic interchange between China and other countries.
Location: No.201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu District, Shanghai City
Website: shanghaimuseum.net/mu/frontend/pg/m/en/display/index
