Shanghai History Museum

The Shanghai History Museum is worth a visit. Not only is it free, but it also has a rich collection of exhibits, and the building itself is very unique. Located at 325 West Nanjing Road, Huangpu District, the Shanghai History Museum is a local history museum that comprehensively reflects the history of Shanghai. It is a national second-class museum. Its history can be traced back to the Shanghai History and Construction Museum Preparatory Office, which was established in 1953. After several changes and developments, the new museum officially opened on March 26, 2018. The museum covers an area of about 10,000 square meters, with a building area of 23,000 square meters and an exhibition hall area of about 9,800 square meters. The museum is an outstanding historical building and cultural landmark in Shanghai, and was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Shanghai in 1989. The exhibitions consist of basic exhibitions, special exhibitions, and temporary exhibitions. The basic exhibitions are composed of "Ancient Shanghai" and "Modern Shanghai." "Ancient Shanghai" introduces the social development of the Shanghai region from ancient times to the mid-Qing Dynasty, with clues of prehistoric civilization, ancient development, and the rise of towns. "Modern Shanghai" shows the process of Shanghai becoming the largest modern metropolis in the Far East from the opening of the port in 1843 to 1949, highlighting the profound revolutionary history of Shanghai. The museum has a rich collection of cultural relics. As of 2022, the museum has about 44,848 pieces/sets of cultural relics, covering 15 categories, including calligraphy and painting, metal, ceramics, etc. Among them, the Bai Zi Da Li sedan chair of Wu Hua Hao, the bronze lion of the Shanghai HSBC Bank, and the bronze cannon of General Zhenyuan made by Chen Huacheng are all important cultural relics.