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Plan your Beijing Museum Tour? Beijing, China’s vibrant and exciting...
Plan your Beijing Museum Tour? Beijing, China’s vibrant and exciting capital city, is home to many world-class museums and art galleries.
There are over 150 to choose from, ranging from the historical to the hi-tech. Beijing is just after London in terms of museum number with average one hundred thousand people having one museum. 33 of the main Beijing museums are free for entrance.
Museums are the best places to learn and record human civilization. A nation with a great future, must have cherished the strong feelings of their own history. Among the 150 museums in Beijing, I have listed here the top 10 museums for your reference and help in planning your resourceful trip to Beijing.
Though not a universal museum like the British Museum, Louvre, Hermitage, or Smithsonian, but as a national museum, the National Museum of China is also top on the list, one of the five or six greatest museums in the world.
It is a grand museum with multiple floors of exhibition halls. The massive museum comprises mainly two halls showcasing permanent exhibits – “Ancient China ” at basement level and “The Road to Rejuvenation” near the entrance, plus a few temporary galleries on upper floors some of which you have to pay entry fees to enter.
1. The opening hours are from 9:00 to 17:00 every day (no admission at 16:00). The museum will be closed on Mondays (except holidays), and the night sessions will be cancelled temporarily.
2. The daily visit limit is 8000 people, and all visitors must book online. before 4:00 pm each day, you can make a booking which can be valid for 7 days. The group reservation and on-site reservation are not accepted.
With its magnificent architecture, abundant exhibitions, advanced technology and complete functions, the Capital Museum, large and modern, makes its contribution to the titles such as “famous historical and cultural city”, “cultural center” and “international metropolis” of Beijing and ranks among the first class museums both at home and abroad.
The China National Art Gallery, or Meishuguan, is one of the largest of its kind in the country. When you enter,there are large galleries to the left and right,and in the center after ascending a short flight of stairs there is the Round Gallery,a very large room where special exhibitions are held.
China Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution also named the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution. The museum occupies a total area of 60,000 square meters.
After passing through the lobby, one comes to the central exhibition hall, which contains over 500-odd photographs and more than 1,000 mementos of the Chinese revolution led by Mao Zedong over the course of half a century.
The level of both scientific research and display are also in the lead. Beijing Museum of Natural History has already been the most popular natural history museum in China.
China Palaeozoological Hall is situated on Xizhimenwai Street, just next to Beijing Planetarium. It is a specialized national museum of natural science which gives a systemic introduction to the origin and development of vertebrates.
The China Science and Technology Museum opened to the public in 1988 and is located northwest of Anhua Bridge on the North Third Ring Road in Beijing. It is the first all-round state-controlled science and technology museum in China.
The Geological Museum of China, built in 1916, is world-renowned geological museum, boasting 200 thousand specimens.
It has been the leading light among the same kind of Asian museums for its time-honored history, large number of ancient records, high percent of curiosities, delicate display and rich achievements in scientific research.
Beijing ancient Architecture Museum is situated in Beijing Xiannong Altar, which is the first special topic museum of China concentrated in collecting, researching and displaying of China ancient architecture technologies, art and its development history. It was official opened on September 25, 1991.
If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Beijing guided tours:
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