Suzhou Museum
Municipal Museum In A 2006 Building By I. M. Pei, Adjoining The Humble Administrator'S Garden And The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Prince'S Residence · Suzhou, Jiangsu
I. M. Pei was born in Guangzhou to a Suzhou family whose ancestral garden, the Lion Grove, is a few hundred metres from this site, and he took this commission in his eighties calling it his beloved daughter. It opened in 2006. What he built is an argument about how to put a modern building next to a sixteenth-century one: the museum sits directly against the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom prince's residence, and rather than imitate them it abstracts them - whitewashed walls and dark grey granite edging instead of white plaster and black tile, geometry drawn from Suzhou roof pitches, and a courtyard garden with a wall of sliced stone arranged to read as a Song landscape painting against the white render behind it. The collection is Suzhou's own: Ming and Qing painting and calligraphy from the Wu school, jade, ceramics, and a pagoda reliquary from the Ruiguang temple with a lacquered casket inside a casket. Admission is free and the timed booking sells out days ahead, which catches people out constantly.
204 Dongbei Street, Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 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 IS REQUIRED through the official WeChat account, and slots SELL OUT SEVERAL DAYS AHEAD at weekends and in holiday periods. Bring a passport; ID is checked at the door. Security screening on entry. Suzhou Museum West is a separate building with a separate booking.