Covering four floors and almost 10,000 years of history, the Shanghai Museum hosts an extensive collection of Chinese historical and archeological material, ranging from Neolithic pottery and Zhou dynasty oracle bones, through Tang dynasty calligraphy and painting, to Qing and Ming furniture.In addition to bamboo carvings, ritual and ornamental jade works, sculptures and traditional Chinese art, the museum also contains sections dedicated entirely to Chinese coin collections
While the vast displays are impressive, the sheer volume of exhibits can also be slightly overwhelming and repetitive - we recommend focusing on your area of interest, or heading straight to the well laid out and colourful room of Chinese minority nationalities' art and national dress on the fourth floor- one of the most enjoyable collections.
When you are done checking out the exhibits, the ground floor museum shop sells souvenirs and a small imperial style tea house offers visitors a space to relax while soaking up millennia of history.
Audio guides are available in exchange for 40RMB and a deposit of either 400RMB, 50USD or a passport. Available languages are English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean.
