Shanghai Museum

An official guide to the Shanghai Museum.

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The Shanghai Museum is the finest museum of modern China - in terms of wealth of collection, display and architecture. Originally built in 1952 on the site of the old race course, it re-opened in 1993 in a startling new building in Renmin Square in the heart of central Shanghai. Designed in the shape of an ancient bronze ding, opposite the new City Hall and the new Opera House, it provides an iconic symbol of the staggering new wealth, power and taste of the city of Shanghai. The building was financed largely by the Shanghai City government. The collections have been hugely enhanced by a large number of gifts from outside China, many from prominent overseas Chinese collectors. Each of the nine galleries is of world class in its own right.The displays are among the most modern in the world, and the most sophisticated. Alone amongst China's major museums, a large proportion of its collection of 120,000 objects is displayed. The lighting, presentation and labelling (in English as well as Chinese) is crisp, accurate and informative.
There are nine major collections, all important and representative, with items of the highest quality: The Ancient Bronze Collection is unique and the most unexpected of them all. The others are: Sculpture, Ceramics, Painting, Calligraphy, Seals, Jades, Ming and Qing Furniture, Coins, and the Arts and Crafts of the Minority Nationalities. The multitude of visitors includes not only foreigners, but also a cross-section of Chinese society. "The Shanghai Museum" not only gives the visitor an unparalleled view of Chinese art, but also an insight into modern China's perception of its visual culture.