7 Little-known Museums in China That Surprise with Rich Exhibits

The museum has magic that travels through time. Pieces of cultural relics and artworks tell the past, condensing the changing situation and the circulation of time in a small world, waiting for travelers to know The value of a museum does not lie in size and reputation, only good collections can truly touch the heart and enlighten wisdom.

When the "net celebrity" museum is getting more and more crowded and it is difficult to make an appointment to visit, you may wish to go to some less popular niche museums, not only for better visiting experience, but also full of rewards! This article will share with you seven niche museums to see if there are any collections that interest you. 

The Qingzhou Museum 

The Qingzhou Museum is located at the northwest of Qingzhou city, Shandong province, with an interior area of 12000 square meters. It was regarded as one of China’s first batch of class-1museums in 2008. A small museum contains more than 40,000 cultural relics, among which there are more than 2,000 cultural relics above the national level. Qingzhou Museum is a treasure museum in the hearts of cultural relics museum fans. It is the county-level museum with the largest scale, the biggest collection of cultural relics, and the most complete categories in China. 

There are three unique treasures as follow:

• The first scholar's paper of Zhaobingzhong who achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination during the Wanli Period of Ming Dynasty (1573—1620). And it is the only known examination paper of its kind, filling a gap in the palace archives of Ming dynasty.
• The jade with the inscription of “Yi Zi Sun” in Eastern Han Dynasty was carved out of the most precious jade and superb carvings.
• The most anticipated exhibits are the Buddhist Stone Statues from Longxing Temple. It was listed as one of the “China’s Top 100 Major Archaeological Discoveries in the 20th Century” because their large number, superb carving and excellent state of preservation of the originally applied gold and colors are rarely seen in the archaeology of China. And they are exclaimed as the masterpieces that can rewrite the artistic history of China and the world at large. 

Baoji Bronze Ware Museum 

Baoji Bronze Ware Museum is located in the China Shi-ku Garden on Shigu Mountain in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, and is the largest bronze museum in China. There are four main exhibition halls. After passing through the preface hall of "Bronze Casting Civilization", enter the first exhibition hall of the museum "Bronze Township". You can see the distribution map of the main places of Chinese bronzes. Since the Han Dynasty, there have been tens of thousands of bronzes unearthed in Baoji. The number of exquisite works and the importance of inscriptions rank first in the country. 

The second exhibition hall "Zhou Li Zhi Bang" contains the most precious and even national-level cultural relics in the museum. Hu Gui was cast by King Li in Western Zhou Dynasty to sacrifice to his ancestors, and it was also called "King Gui" because it was the largest piece of bronze Gui. There are a total of 284 precious inscriptions on the wall plate, which record important historical relics of the seven kings of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which mutually confirms the content of the "Historical Records · Zhou Benji". 

Another national treasure is Hezun, a kind of ritual wine vessel. It is a sacrificial vessel made by a noble of the Western Zhou clan named He in the early Western Zhou Dynasty in China. The most precious thing is the "Zhai Zi Zhong Guo" (宅兹中国) in the inscription which is the earliest written record of the title "Zhong Guo" (means China) comes from here.

The third exhibition hall "Imperial Road" tells the history of Qin people. The fourth exhibition hall "Light of Wisdom" introduces the complete process of bronze ware from model making to casting into an object in the form of a simulation workshop. The museum also has exhibition halls for bronze mirrors, porcelain, and Buddha statues. 

Qinghai Tibetan Culture Museum 

Qinghai Tibetan Culture Museum was built in 2006, with a total construction area of 12,000 square meters. It is the only comprehensive museum in the world that comprehensively collects, protects, displays and studies Tibetan culture. If you want to know rich history and culture in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this museum is unmissable.

The museum is divided into two parts: the North Hall about Tibetan medicine culture and the South Hall about Tibetan traditional culture. Tibetan medicine culture is the main exhibition part of the museum. Through the display of Tibetan medical history, medical instruments and medical materials, people have a comprehensive understanding of the development of Tibetan medicine. 

The Tibetan Costume Hall on the second floor of the South Hall exhibited nearly a hundred pieces of costumes from all over the Tibetan area and monks’ costumes. The Silk Road and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Civilization Hall on the third floor showcased the thousands of years of exchange and integration between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Central Plains civilization.

Among them, the most amazing is the huge 618-meter-long painted Thangka "China Tibetan Painted View", which is displayed on the fourth floor of the South Hall. It can be called an encyclopedia of Tibetan history, culture, religion, and medicine. You can learn about the cosmology, world outlook, religious origins and major historical events in Tibetan culture, also appreciate the relics, natural scenery and folk customs of the Qing-Tibet Plateau. 

China Kun Opera Museum 

China Kun Opera Museum is located in Quanjin Hall, Pingjiang Road, Suzhou City. And the Quanjin Hall, listed as World Cultural Heritage Site of the Grand Canal, was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Kunqu, also known as Kun opera, with more than 600-year history, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the local melody of Kunshan and its style originated in the Wu cultural area. Kun Opera has had a far-reaching influence on most Chinese operas in artistic presentations, use of facial makeup, division of roles, and many other ways.

Here you can learn about Kunqu Opera and its development in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Hunan. There are also some printed scripts of operas such as "Eternal Life Palace" and "Peach Blossom Fan" on display in the museum. Seeing a simulated performance venue at the back, with some costumes and musical instruments displayed on both sides.

The most unique thing is the ancient stage in the hall. The top is made of 632 woodcarving components combined with tenon to form a rotating radial shape, which is said to produce the effect of reverberation around the beam. Taking a break, and listening to a traditional opera is also a way to understand Chinese culture. 

The Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts 

The musuem is located on the quiet Fenyang Road, covering an area of 5862 square meters. It's hard to find a foreign-style house with such a cheap and exquisite price that can be entered and visited so freely in Shanghai. This villa was built in 1905, and you will realize Why it is called” The Little White House in Shanghai” when standing on the front of the building. The exquisiteness of the buildings here eclipses the handicrafts exhibited inside.

The main building is divided into three exhibition halls: Weaving and Embroidery, Sculpture and Folk Crafts, displaying nearly 300 works, which can reflect the development of Shanghai's arts and crafts. The establishment of more than ten majors such as embroidery, costumes, bamboo carving, boxwood carving, etc. basically cover the local traditional crafts that need to be protected urgently in Shanghai.

There are also various professional studios, where you can see how skilled craftsmen create a handicraft. Remember to look for the bathroom on the second floor, where the original decoration pattern is still preserved, and you can also see the massage shower room in the mansion a hundred years ago. 

Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum 

The museum is located in the Xiannong Altar on the west side of Yongdingmen Street, Beijing. It was officially opened to the public in 1991. It is the first thematic museum in China to collect, research and display the history, art and technology of ancient Chinese architecture.

The main building, Tai Sui Hall, is comparable to the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City. It has now been opened as the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum. The architectural models inside are very exquisite, and almost all ancient Chinese buildings can be seen here, such as the internal structure of the sunk panel of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest (Qiniandian) in the Temple of Heaven and the turret of the Forbidden City.

The greatest work of sunk panel’s art in Longfu Temple, and the "Beijing Old City Model" which can be called the best sand table in China, will make you amazed. Every April, an activity imitating the Qing emperor's sacrifice to the ancestor who created agriculture is held here, lasting about 40 minutes. 

Yongling Museum (The Royal Tomb of Wang Jian) 

Yongling Museum is hidden in Yongling road, Chengdu city with few tourists. Yongling is also known as the Royal Tomb of Wangjian, the ruler of the kingdom of the Former Shu (907-925 AD) which was founded toward the end of the Tang dynasty and survived into the period of the Five Dynasties. The tomb is not very large, but special. Yong Ling mausoleum is the only royal tomb, which has been built on the ground, not like the other “underground palaces”. Also it’s also the only tomb with a stone statue of the emperor's real face. 

After entering the dark underground palace, remember to move your eyes down. The exquisite coffin bed is the essence of the tomb. The twelve statues of coffin lifters wrapped in heavy armor, with vivid expressions on their faces. There are 24 musicians and dancers carved around the coffin platform, include 23 pieces for 20 kinds of instruments, showing the graceful court music and dance in the period of Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties. Behind the coffin platform, a stone statue of Wang Jian sits upright. The sculptures are delicate, and it’s a national treasure-level cultural relic.  

Coming outside, there is another hall mainly introduces the life of Wang Jian and the structure of Yongling. In addition, many important treasures have been still preserved: jade belt, jade seal, and stone carvings which are impressive and display the culture of Sichuan area around the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. 

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