A Day at the Shanghai Museum

Asia » China » Shanghai
September 8th 2008

Published: September 9th 2008

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mouchon

Photo 1

the Shanghai Museum - it's shape is modeled after an ancient bronze "ding" - a three legged food vessel

Today is Monday September 8th. I can't believe it. Monday September 8th means that I've already been living in China for almost a month, and that I'll be going back home in only 5 more. Crazy ...

On Saturday we'd originally planned to spend the day at the Shanghai Museum, but due to the throngs of people I decided that maybe it would be best to do on a Monday morning (even though it would be sans Ollie). So I showed up bright and early (it opens at 9, I was there at 10 30) and luckily there wasn't much of a line. You do, however have to go through a security check much like you would at an airport - bag goes through the scanner machine, you remove any watches, loose change, etc and step through the metal detector. If you happen to beep (which I didn't, but the man in front of me did) you get the wand check. When I went to claim my purse the police officer asked if I had drinking water in my bag. I did, so I pulled it out for him. We then spent a minute while I tried to understand his

Photo 2

the grand entrance to the museum

english (basically he wanted me to have a sip of my water in front of him so he knew it was really water . . . i couldn't understand if he was telling me to drink it all before entering or to throw it out. I discovered accidentally when I took a sip without realizing it, and he said okay and let me through).

So the museum was definitely busy even for a Monday morning, but it was manageable thankfully. I've been to museums all over Canada, England, and France, so I've seen my share. The Shanghai Museum only contains ancient chinese artifacts and antiquities, so that distinguishes it from other museums I've been too. Size wise, it was also very manageable. It is not even a fraction the size of the Louve or the British Museum, but that's not a bad thing. In fact I really liked the layout. There were 4 floors housing all the galleries, and no individual gallery was overwhelmingly big. I spent the entire morning and early afternoon there, and I languidly explored, and was able to see everything (except for the Jade Gallery which was closed for renovations).

I'll describe the layout

Photo 3

inside the main hall

of the museum, mainly for the photos that follow. The first floor housed a sculpture gallery and a bronzes gallery. The second floor had ceramics. The third floor had calligraphy, painting, and ancient seals. Lastly the fourth floor had a chinese minority nationalities gallery, furniture, and coins (as well as the Jade gallery).

I was very impressed by the pieces that I saw - they were all stunning representatives of the arts and products that came out of the China of the past. My only negative comment would be that most supplementary materials were in chinese only (although you could purchase an english audio guide). All in all it was a beautiful day at a beautiful museum!

Additional photos below

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