Travel in China
One of China's great museums - a bronze-vessel-shaped building holding world-class collections of bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy and Ming furniture.
The Shanghai Museum, founded in 1952 and housed since 1996 in its iconic bronze-vessel-shaped building on People's Square, is one of China's foremost museums of ancient art. Its collection of more than one million artifacts is particularly strong in Chinese bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, jade, coins, seals and Ming-dynasty furniture.
The museum's round upper section on a square base symbolises the ancient Chinese concept of 'round heaven, square earth'. The galleries are arranged across four floors, with the bronze gallery (considered the finest outside Taipei) on the first floor, ceramics and painting above, and the jade, seal and minority-arts galleries filling the upper levels.
In 2024, the museum opened its Shanghai Museum East branch in Pudong - a vast new building with expanded galleries and a spectacular rooftop terrace. The original People's Square building remains open, making Shanghai one of the few cities with two world-class museum campuses.
Highlights
The Bronze Gallery
The finest collection of ancient Chinese bronzes outside Taipei - ritual vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
The Ceramics Gallery
A chronological journey through 8,000 years of Chinese pottery and porcelain.
The Calligraphy Gallery
Masterpieces of Chinese brush writing from the Jin dynasty to the modern era.
The Ming Furniture Gallery
An entire gallery of Ming-dynasty hardwood furniture arranged as period rooms.
The Jade Gallery
Neolithic jades to Qing masterworks - including the jade deity figure of the Shijiahe culture (c. 2500-2000 BC).
The Building Itself
A perfect circle on a square base - one of Shanghai's most iconic pieces of architecture.
Photo Gallery
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