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Trip.Best Popular Museums in Beijing
National Museum of China
4.8
/5
10814 reviews
8.4
Free
Based on 961 reviews
Very well worth a visit BUT can be a pain in the butt to get tickets as they have low support for foreigners passports, English and need to use Wechat Mini Apps. Best and easiest way to get tickets as a foreigner is via Trip.com when they do tickets, sometimes they just point you to wechat mini app. In which case, not much you can do. There is a real crown in the basement which people line up to take photos of and was a crazy highlight of the visit. As well as artefacts from when New China was established. The signage and closure of many exhibits was a bit disappointing though, especially when you travelled far and wide. This is my experience from late Nov:Exhibit 2 is paid/non general exhibits Closed exhibits:1, 3, 4, 6, 10Open exhibits:7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 Seems like No 5 and 10 don't exist?B1 is where all ancient china is, signage not that clear. Enter on ground, and go down escalators. This is where you'll find the crown at the end of the exhibit.
Tian'anmen Square and Wangfujing Area /Beijing
530m from downtown Beijing
Highlights: The National Museum of China is an institution that, on behalf of the country, collects, studies, displays and interprets representative material evidence that fully reflects China's fine traditional culture and advanced socialist culture. It is a national palace of history, culture and art and a cultural living room.The National Museum of China currently has more than 1.4 million collections, covering ancient cultural relics, modern and contemporary cultural relics, rare books and ancient books, and artworks. Among them, there are 815,000 pieces (sets) of ancient cultural relics, 340,000 pieces (sets) of modern and contemporary cultural relics, more than 240,000 pieces (volumes) of rare books and ancient books, and a total of nearly 6,000 first-class cultural relics. In recent years, especially since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the National Museum of China has increased its efforts to collect representative material evidence reflecting contemporary advanced culture, and publicly collected cultural relics collections from the society, collecting an average of about 50 sets of ancient cultural relics and more than 1,000 sets of modern and contemporary cultural relics, physical objects and artworks each year.The exhibitions of the National Museum of China include three series: basic exhibitions, special exhibitions, and temporary exhibitions, forming a three-dimensional exhibition system covering theme exhibitions, basic exhibitions, special exhibitions, and temporary exhibitions. Among them, "Ancient China", "Road to Rejuvenation" and "Road to Rejuvenation in the New Era" are the basic exhibitions of the National Museum, and are also important positions for promoting Chinese traditional culture, advanced socialist culture, and cultivating and practicing the core socialist values. The special exhibitions are mainly based on the collection of cultural relics, including more than ten special exhibitions such as ancient Chinese bronzes, Buddhist statues, jades, porcelains, modern classic works of art, and African wood carvings. Temporary exhibitions include two categories: self-planned exhibitions and introduced exchange exhibitions, covering historical culture, fine cultural relics, archaeological discoveries, classic works of art, regional culture, international exchanges and other aspects, with an average of more than 40 exhibitions held each year.The National Museum of China has rich research resources, a solid research foundation and strong research capabilities, and is the industry leader in the development of the domestic museum industry.Since 2018, in accordance with the principle of "not seeking to collect but to exhibit, open cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win", we have established strategic cooperative relations with many cultural and museum institutions, institutes, universities and colleges at home and abroad, jointly carried out academic research, held high-quality cultural relics exhibitions, convened seminars, launched postdoctoral research workstations, and took the lead in establishing two international organizations, the BRICS Museum Alliance and the Silk Road Museum Alliance, striving to play a greater role and make greater contributions in promoting the core socialist values, enhancing cultural confidence, promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations, and building a socialist cultural power.
Natural History Museum of China
4.7
/5
1967 reviews
7.2
Free
Based on 93 reviews
The museum isn't very large, but its collection is extensive and comprehensive, covering a long period of history. It's richly illustrated with text and images, and offers many interactive experiences. Children especially love the dinosaur specimens and models. It's a great place to bring kids on weekends to broaden their horizons.
Qianmen, The Temple Of Heaven and Chongwenmen /Beijing
2.4 km from downtown Beijing
Highlights: The Beijing Museum of Natural History's exhibits includes a huge array of ancient fossils, ex. yellow river elephant skull fossils, giant Mamenchisaurus fossils and Sinormis fossils. The most popular exhibits in the museum are the Dinosaur Park and the Ancient Reptile Hall. Take one step into the Dinosaur Park, and it's like you're entering an ancient world, one where dinosaurs roam the earth!
The Geological Museum of China
4.8
/5
5897 reviews
7.2
From £1.59
Based on 15 reviews
There are rich introductions to minerals and gemstones, which is suitable for bringing children to science popularization. During the National Day, there were many people in the exhibition hall, which affected the viewing experience to a certain extent, but overall it is still a museum worth visiting
Xidan and Financial Street Area /Beijing
3.6 km from downtown Beijing
Highlights: Founded in 1916, the The Geological Museum of China is an early public natural science museum in China. Featuring a long history, a large number of collections, and a fine display, etc, it has become a famous museum in Asia. According to the structure of the earth layers, five basic exhibition halls are established—the Earth Hall, the Mineral Rock Hall, the Gem Hall, the Prehistoric Biology Hall, and the National Land Resources Hall. There are also two temporary exhibition halls tracking hot issues in geoscience with consistently updated content.
Beijing Auto Museum
4.7
/5
6161 reviews
6.4
From £3.18
Based on 24 reviews
A dynamic and intelligent automotive palace. Its rich collection, ranging from steam locomotives to futuristic concept cars, vividly portrays the epic history of human mobility. The interactive experiences are excellent, with driving simulators and mechanical demystification making scientific knowledge fun. The building itself resembles an eye that sees into the future, making it a perfect place for families to visit together and inspire creativity.
ABP (Advanced Business Park), Fengtai Sports Center, Nangong Area /Beijing
12.3 km from downtown Beijing
Highlights: The Beijing Auto Museum is a unique car-themed museum. There are many models and reproductions of famous vehicles throughout history. There are also descriptions of the internal structure of automobiles. If you ever wish to know anything about the history of cars, this is the place to visit. While in the museum, younger visitors can also participate in many hands-on activities, such as simulated car races. The outside of the building that houses the Beijing Auto Museum looks like a giant, dynamic eye from a bird's-eye view. The ticket office at the main gate is located inside a distinctive locomotive.
Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum
4.7
/5
216 reviews
5.5
A good tour guide can enrich your travel experience both intellectually and spiritually. Today's guide, Mr. Tang, was just such a guide—knowledgeable, always ready to answer questions, and providing enthusiastic service. A very happy and satisfying day! Thank you, Mr. Tang! Highly recommended!
Qianmen, The Temple Of Heaven and Chongwenmen /Beijing
3.2 km from downtown Beijing
Highlights: The Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum is located in Xuanwu District's Xiannongtan. Far from the hustle and bustle of the city, it is a relaxing and peaceful environment. This is one of China's special museums that both performs research on ancient Chinese architectural technology and its development, as well as offers exhibits open to the public. It was officially opened on September 25, 1991. As one of the carriers of human civilization, architecture is regarded both as a concrete object and as a symbol of the contributions a nation can make to human civilization. This is a place visitors can appreciate the vastness of Chinese civilization.
Capital Museum
4.8
/5
1166 reviews
5.5
Free
Based on 385 reviews
The Capital Museum is a large comprehensive museum under the jurisdiction of Beijing and a national first-class museum. The total construction area is 63,390 square meters, with two underground floors and five above-ground floors. The museum contains a wide variety of cultural relics, including bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist statues, jades, gold and silver wares, coins, calligraphy, paintings, embroidery, and cultural relics.
Xidan and Financial Street Area /Beijing
5.6 km from downtown Beijing
Highlights: The Capital Museum is a good place to learn about the city of Beijing. The museum displays the 3,000-year history the city and more than 800-year history of Beijing as the capital. Many Beijing traditions and customs are also displayed here. The capital museum building itself is also very distinctive. Inside the building, there are delicate spots like sunken bamboo gardens and quaint Chinese arches. Cafes, restaurants, and bag deposits are also available inside.
Guanfu Museum
4.8
/5
1269 reviews
5.1
From £9.32
Based on 18 reviews
The exhibition hall is not big, but it is exquisite and worth visiting. The porcelain exhibits are very unique, and the furniture exhibition hall is great! 👍Highly recommended! The Fun Cat Pavilion is very interesting and suitable for cat lovers to pet cats.
Capital Airport and New International Exhibition Center /Beijing
15.7 km from downtown Beijing
Highlights: Guanfu Museum is a private art museum in Beijing, founded by Ma Weidu. Guanfu Museum has exhibitions featuring ceramics, furniture, handicrafts, traditional doors and windows and oil paintings. Among these, the ceramics and furniture exhibitions are highly recommended for visitors. Visitors can enjoy all kinds of ceramics representative of each dynastic era, as well as view many pieces of precious Ming- and Qing-era furniture. Throughout the year, Guanfu Museum holds all sorts of exhibitions and activities. Guanfu Museum also now has branches in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xiamen.
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