Museums

There are 121 registered museums in Beijing, public and private. Browsing cultural relics and modern exhibits in cool rooms can be an attraction during the warmer months for visitors. There are several must-see museums.

 

1. China National Museum  国家博物馆

The Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of Chinese Revolution are housed in the same building complex, which stretches for more than 300 metres north and south along the east side of Tian'anmen Square.

It has more than 610,000 relics dating to thousands of years ago. From military relics to cultural relics, visitors can get a sense of the rich culture of a historic nation. They can also get an introduction to China's modern history from the Opium War to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. English translations are available for all.

Address: Tian'anmen Square (east side)，Chaoyang District

朝阳区天安门广场东

Tel: +86 10 6512 8967, 01

Opening Hours: 8 a.m.–6 p.m. (peak season), 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (low season)

 

2. Chairman Mao's Mausoleum 毛主席纪念堂

Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976), former Chinese leader and national icon, is on display. Pay homage and buy flowers for 1 yuan.

Address: 11 Qianmennan Dajie, southern Tian' anmen Square，Chongwen District

天安门广场南，崇文区前门大街11号

Tel: +86 10 6513 2277, ext. 80

Open: 8:30–11:30 a.m. (Tues.–Sun.), 2–4 p.m. (Tues.–Thu.), (closed Mon.)

Bus/Subway: Special Route No. 1 (Te1*), 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 22, 37, 52, 54, 120, 726, 728, 802, 826, subway (Qianmen station)

 

3. Capital Museum  首都博物馆

The Capital Museum houses nearly 200,000 valuable artefacts, unearthed in the Beijing area.  Among the treasures are: ancient coins, stoneware, bronzes, steles, jade, calligraphy and paintings. At the core of the collection are 800 historical relics that tell the history of the Beijing area.

Now located inside the Confucius Temple (Kong Miao) near the Yonghegong (Lama Temple) on the North Second Ring Road at Yonghegong Dajie, a new building housing the museum will be completed by the end of 2005 at the western end of Chang’an Jie (Avenue). Basic information about the museum and its exhibits can be accessed on computers installed there.

Address: (In the Confucius Temple)

13, Guozijian Jie, Dongcheng District

东城区国子监街13号

Tel: +86 10 6401 2118

Opening hours: 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

Bus/Subway: 807, 116, (Yonghegong station)

 

4. Ancient Observatory 北京古观象台

Built in 1442, the observatory is made up of eight astronomical devices designed by Jesuit astronomers and presented to the Imperial court.

Address: 2 Dongbiaobei Hutong, Jianguomen Subway Station, Dongcheng District

东城区东裱褙胡同2号，建国门地铁站旁

Tel: +86 10 6512 8923

Opening hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Bus/Subway: 1, 4, 52, 403, (Jianguomen station)

 

5. Beijing Planetarium 北京天文馆

Just opposite the Beijing Zoo in Haidian, the newly renovated Planetarium is a fun outing particularly for amateur astronomers and children. With some of the latest high-tech equipment in the field, and displaying some of the oldest examples of scientific activity in China, the new Planetarium opened late 2004.

Resting alongside an original Planetarium that was established in 1957, the 300 million yuan (US$36 million), 20,000-square-metre new Planetarium complex has three theatres, two observatories and a solar exhibition hall. The solar system exhibition hall and a galaxy exhibition hall have been the most popular since they opened. Visitors are treated to a state-of-the-art, 45-minute, mesmerising trip through the stars via the Planetarium's  newly opened SGI(R) Digital Space Theatre where visitors can—for  the first time—view an astonishing array of high-contrast colour images including more than 37,000 stars, 30,000 galaxies, constellations, nebulae, planets, spacecraft, and deep space objects.

Address: 38 Xizhimenwai Dajie, Haidian District 

海淀区西直门外大街38号

Tel: +86 10 6831 2517

Opening hours: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (Sat.), 10 a.m.–4 p.m. (Wed.–Fri.)

 

6. China National Science and Technology Museum中国科技馆

Address: 1 Beisanhuan Zhonglu, Xicheng District

西城区北三环中路1号

Tel: +86 10 6237 1177

Open: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (closed Mon.)

Bus: 21, 300, 302, 367, 387, 407, 718, 801, 101, 104, 201, 380, 406, 409, 819, 925, Te* 2, Te* 8

 

7. Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution 中国人民军事革命博物馆

The museum is composed of two four-story wings and a main building of seven stories topped with the gilded emblem of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. More than 5,000 years of Chinese military history are on display.

Address: 9 Fuxing Lu, Haidian District

海淀区复兴路9号

Tel: + 86 10 6686 6114

Opening hours: 8a.m.–5 p.m.

Bus/Subway: 1, 4, 21, 337, (Military Museum station)

 

8. The China Millennium Monument 中华世纪坛

Address: A9 Fuxing Lu, Haidian District

海淀区复兴路甲9号

Tel: +86 10 6857 3281

Open: 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Bus/Subway: 1, 4, 21, 52, 320, 337, 728, (Military Museum station)

 

9. Beijing Art Museum 北京艺术博物馆

The permanent collection of the Beijing Art Museum includes bronze and jade artefacts from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (17^th–3rd centuries BC), and ceramics, enamels, carved lacquerware, ivory, weavings and embroideries from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Ancient coins from the China and Japan complement the collection. More than 50,000 artefacts from the Neolithic Period to modern times make up the entire collection.

Address: Wanshou Temple, Suzhou Jie, Haidian District

海淀区苏州街万寿寺

Tel: +86 10 6841 3380

Opening hours: 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Bus: 300, 323, 374, 811

 

10. Beijing Museum of Natural History 北京自然博物馆

The largest of its kind in China, the Beijing Museum of Natural History is located on the western edge of the Temple of Heaven. The first floor displays China's zoological history; on the second floor a study of human anatomy with human cadavers and preserved organs are displayed. The museum traces the evolution and development of human beings over the last 300–400 million years.

Address: 126 Tianqiaonan Dajie, Chongwen District

崇文区天桥南大街126号

Tel: +86 10 6702 4431

Open: 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

Bus: 2, 6, 15, 17, 20, 25, 35, 36, 45, 53, 110, 120

 

11. China Red Sandalwood Museum 中国紫檀博物馆

Arguably China's largest private museum, most of the exhibits on display at the China Red Sandalwood Museum are not surprisingly made of red sandalwood. The museum also devotes some space to rare woods including ebony and huali (Onmosia henryi).

Address: 23 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang District

朝阳区建国路23号

Tel: +86 10 8575 2818

Open: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

Bus/Subway: 312, 363, 718, (Sihuidong station)

 

12. Beijing Urban Planning Museum 北京市规划展览馆

The Beijing Urban Planning Museum exhibits stunning scale models of Beijing's city planning including its business districts, Olympic Village and on the third floor the entire city of Beijing in miniature and aerial photographs. Look for your own neighbourhood—it's remarkable!

Address: east of Beijing Railway Station, Qianmen Dongdajie, Dongcheng District

东城区前门东大街老北京火车站东侧

Tel: +86 10 6702 4505, 59

Open: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (closed Mon.)

Bus/Subway: 5, 9, 20, 44, 120, 819, (Qianmen station)