Nanjing Museum (Nanjing Bowuyuan), Jiangsu, China

5Markus W 5:00 PM Jan 20, 2018

Highly recommended museum
I really like this museum a lot. The quality and variety of its exhibits are outstanding. And there is no entrance fee. At the beginning of your visit, go the the ticket office located in the first building on the left to claim your free ticket. Make sure to bring your passport along as you have to show it to the staff at the ticket desk. Then you can set out and explore the different galleries. After exiting the ticket office, the next building on the left is the Gallery of Art. Here you can see calligraphy, paintings and sculptures from various and mostly contemporary artists. There are no explanations in English though. From the Gallery of Art you can access the underground Gallery of Scene of the Republican Period, which is my favorite part of the museum. It is a life-sized reconstruction of a street with shops and restaurants from the Republican Period (1912 to 1949). There is even a post office and railway station. You can walk around everywhere and take in the atmosphere of the past. Great! Then there is the Gallery of History with its exquisite exhibits covering every period from prehistory to the last dynasty. On two floors you can see everything from mammoth and giant elk skeletons to Tang dynasty figurines, Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain and artifacts and much much more. Explanations are in English here. The last building is the Gallery of Temporary Exhibitions. At the time of my visit, there were various exhibitions like e.g. on the upcoming Year of the Dog, religious art, old clocks from Europe and China, more porcelain, etc. The rooftop terrace offers great views of Zijin Mountain, you can even see the Ming tombs from there.

4Daniel C 5:00 PM Jun 30, 2020

The history of Nanjing
Divided into different sections, the museum shows the full history of the city of Nanjing from the days of the Dinosaurs, to ancient China, feudal China to the Republic of China a hundred years ago back when Nanjing was the capital city of China. There are large Dinosaur skeletons, large video screens showing the wars China has been involved in and even a street recreated to look like 1920s Nanjing with classic cars and old shops. When I visited there was a Chinese opera show being performed with their painted faces and fancy costumes doing their exaggerated movements. You can also buy novelty gifts from the past, back before the Chinese invented paper, they wrote on sticks of bamboo tied together by rope as well as other relics of China's past. Surprisingly you'll also see statues of people from other nation's history like the ancient Greek philosopher Plato doing his famous pose from the iconic painting the School of Athens. At the end of the museum you can find a place to grab some food but don't rush through because you might miss something, take your time.