Shanghai Museum
Major museum of ancient Chinese art, from bronzes and ceramics to calligraphy and painting.
The Shanghai Museum was founded in 1952 and first occupied the former clubhouse of the Shanghai Racecourse. It is one of China's leading museums of ancient Chinese art, with a collection of more than 120,000 objects covering bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, jade, sculpture, furniture, coins, seals and the arts of China's ethnic minorities. It now operates two sites: the building on People's Square in central Shanghai and a much larger branch, Shanghai Museum East, in Pudong.
The People's Square building, designed by Xing Tonghe, opened on 12 October 1996. Its circular top set on a square base recalls an ancient bronze ding vessel and the traditional idea of a round heaven above a square earth. The building is about 29.5 metres high. From July 2026 its first three floors are given over to On Top of the World Tree, a major exhibition on the ancient civilisations of the Americas scheduled to run until November 2027.
Shanghai Museum East stands on Century Avenue in the Huamu area of Pudong. Construction began in 2017; the first gallery opened on a trial basis in February 2024 and the museum opened fully in late 2024. Designed by a Tongji University team, it has six floors above ground and a total floor area of about 113,000 square metres, roughly three times that of the People's Square site. It houses the main permanent galleries, including those for bronzes, sculpture, ceramics and painting.
Highlights
- People's Square building shaped like an ancient bronze ding vessel
- More than 120,000 objects of ancient Chinese art
- Shanghai Museum East in Pudong, opened in 2024 with about 113,000 m² of space
- Major permanent galleries of Chinese bronzes, sculpture and ceramics
- On Top of the World Tree: ancient Americas exhibition at People's Square to 2027
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