Shanghai Museum
National First Grade Museum Holding One Of The Foremost Collections Of Chinese Art, With Particular Strength In Ancient Bronze, Ceramics And Painting · Shanghai, Shanghai
The best general collection of Chinese art in mainland China, in a building on People's Square shaped as a round top on a square base after a Han bronze ding - the old cosmological idea that heaven is round and earth square, built at 1:1 scale as a museum. It opened in 1996 and the collection behind it was largely assembled in the 1950s under Shanghai's first museum director, who bought and recovered material at a moment when a great deal was moving and much of it was leaving the country. The strengths are ancient bronze, which is arguably the finest holding anywhere; ceramics, running the full sequence from Neolithic painted pottery to Qing export ware; and painting and calligraphy, where the rotation is careful and the Song and Yuan material is exceptional. There are also jade, furniture, seals, coins and minority costume galleries. Admission is free and has been for years. The complication is that the museum has expanded: a second and much larger building, Shanghai Museum East, has opened in Pudong, and the collection is now split between them.
201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu District, Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Generally open 9:00-17:00 with last entry around 16:00, and CLOSED ON MONDAYS except public holidays. ADMISSION IS FREE but TIMED REAL-NAME BOOKING through the official WeChat account is required and SELLS OUT several days ahead. Bring a passport. Security screening on entry. SHANGHAI MUSEUM EAST IN PUDONG IS A SEPARATE BUILDING with its own separate booking and part of the collection.