Nanjing Museum
National First Grade Museum Founded 1933, In A Liang Sicheng Hall, With The Underground Republican Era Street Reconstruction · Nanjing, Jiangsu
Nanjing Museum was founded in 1933 as the national museum of a republic that would not last, and the great tiled hall at its front was designed by Liang Sicheng in deliberate imitation of Liao dynasty timber architecture - a modern concrete building wearing an eleventh-century roof, built by the man who spent his life documenting the originals before they were lost. Inside is one of the largest collections in China, more than four hundred thousand objects, and the single most famous is a jade burial suit sewn with silver wire. But the thing nobody expects is downstairs. The Republican Era Hall is a full-scale reconstruction of a 1930s Nanjing street built underground - shopfronts, a post office, a tram, a cinema, a barber, period signage, staff in period dress, and actual small businesses selling coffee and snacks inside the set. It is a museum gallery you can walk down and buy a drink in, and for most visitors it is the part of the day they remember.
321 Zhongshan East Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Generally open 9:00-17:00 with last entry around 16:00, CLOSED ON MONDAYS except public holidays. ADMISSION IS FREE but real-name booking through the official WeChat account is required and slots sell out - book ahead and bring a passport for the door check. THE REPUBLICAN ERA HALL IS UNDERGROUND and included in general entry; it is busiest from midday onwards. Security screening on entry, no flash in the object galleries.