This page contains a formatted list of roughly 100 museums in China that contain collections related to Chinese antiquities, archeology and history (museums devoted to other topics are not included on this list). This is not a complete list as there are many other museums in China; this is merely a list of major ones. The list was compiled for myself to aid in conducting research. I am sharing it here so that it may aid others. Note that there may be mistakes.
The list is organized by major city and/or province. The museum’s name is hyper linked to their website. Next to the name is a 2nd column containing my own notes about their collection such as what items are online and what the quality of the images are.
A few things to be aware of:
- Chinese museums, with a few exceptions rarely offer any other languages except Chinese. Do not expect English.
- Finding their online collections may not be obvious and you may need to look around on the site before locating it.
- Service quality is spotty as best. Often the sites are down, the address changed without redirect and other times loading can be slow due to China’s great firewall. Some sites even still use flash.
- Some museums do have good virtual walkthroughs worth exploring. If you cannot find it on the museums home page, they may not have one OR you can also try searching https://www.720yun.com/search/ (copy the museums Chinese name from the list and past it into the search there).
China #
Anhui #
| Anhui Provincial Museum | bit of everything including furniture, lacquerware metal work, carvings etc but not many items online |
| Chizhou Xiushanmen Museum |
Beijing #
| China Agricultural Museum | (in Beijing) surprisingly quite a lot of very early pottery. Photos are not too bad. Han, neolythic etc. |
| Furniture Collections at Tsinghua University | porcelain and furniture but photos are not very large. |
| Palace Museum | In English and Chinese – Extensive collection of furniture, lacquer, seals, and everything else. Good photos although cannot zoom in. Fair amount of academic information. (Click to search for furniture only). |
| China Red Sandalwood Museum | Mostly hardwood furniture (zitan & huanghuali). But basic non-zoomable images. |
| Guanfu Museum Beijing | Private museum. Lots of furniture, ceramics etc. But small photos. |
| National Museum of China | single item photos… thousands of items online but difficult to navigate. Tiny photos. No search. Pretty sad actually. Does have one or two virtual walkthroughs though. |
| Western Zhou Yan State Capital Museum | |
| China printing museum 中国印刷博物馆 | |
| Poly Art Museum | Has 4 of the bronze heads from old summer palace. Mostly bronze and stone. Basic picts. |
| China Arts and Crafts Museum | |
| Capital Museum | Chinese site was a nightmare… some stuff online… still uses flash BUT english site was updated with lots of good items!!! Bronze, porcelain, inkstones, brocades etc |
| Museum of Tibetan Culture 西藏文化博物馆 | not much online |
| Beijing Long Shuncheng Jingzu Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum 北京龙顺成京作非遗博物馆 | hardwood furniture museum. No website though, Only 3d walkthrough |
Chongching #
| Three Gorges Museum (Chinese: 重庆中国三峡博物馆 | some stuff in 3d. A bit of everything. 3d files not many but are not bad. |
Fujian #
| Quanzhou Maritime Museum (海外交通史博物馆) | A Song Dynasty ship unearthed in 1974. Has stone and lots of Export ceramics (Dehua porcelain) |
| Fujian Museum福建博物院 | Not much online… |
Gansu #
| Pingliang City Museum (Gansu) | not bad in terms of items online although picts are average. Stone, bronze, pottery etc. Decent variety of items. |
| Baiyin City Museum Baiyin, Gansu province | lots of obscure items. Tons of items online. Massive section of rustic furniture and provincial items. |
Guangdong #
| Guangzhou Thirteen Hongs Museum 广州十三行博物馆 | |
| Guangdong Museum 广东省博物馆 | 500 pieces online plus some 3d scans.. single picts but clear and nice! |
| Shenzhen Wangye Museum | Jade, ceramics, bronze – low res photos |
| Shenzhen Museum 深圳博物馆 | good photos, multiple angles. lot of items. |
| Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King 西汉南越王博物馆 . | Also have a virtual version on google arts and culture |
| Guangdong Shiwan Ceramics Museum 广东石湾陶瓷博物馆 | devoted to Shiwan ceramics. A LOT of items online. |
Guangxi #
| Anthropology Museum Of Guangxi |
Hangzhou #
| Liangzhu Museum | very little stuff online – but does have some 3d walkthroughs… |
Hainan #
| The Hainan Museum | |
| HAINAN MUSEUM OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA 中国(海南)南海博物馆 | should have lots of China export / trade items but sadly not much of them displayed online. |
| Ethnic Museum of Baisha Li 白沙民族博物馆- 博物馆 | Baisha ethnic minority items |
Hebei #
| Hebei Museum | thousands of items online although search is only in chinese. Also has a fair number of 3d scans of some items. Large collection of lacquer items. Really tons of items of all kinds. |
| Hebei provincial museum | Warring states bed is there at the Chu Culture Exhibition of Wuhan Hubei Provincial Museum |
| Fengning Manchu Museum 丰宁满族博物馆 manchu ethnicity | small museum.. |
Hunan #
| Hunan Museum | very old pieces but not much online and bad photos. |
| Changsha Museum | interesting pieces including provincial items but not much online overall. |
Hubei #
| Hubei Provincial Museum | |
| Wudang Museum | devoted to stone statues, wooden states etc |
Henan #
| Luoyang Museum | low res bad picts |
| Henan Museum | bronze, jade etc but not much online. |
| Dawn of chinese civilization 3d virtual walkthrough | (virtual walkthrough Henan early treasures. Bronzwares etc |
| Guo State Museum (Sanmenxia) | Sanmenxia culture |
| Celadon Museum 汝行集团·青瓷博物馆 | celedon. Has 3d walkthrough. |
Heilongjiang #
| Heilongjiang Provincial Museum | low res picts |
Inner Mongolia #
| Inner Mongolia Historical Museum | some stuff online but not tons.. mostly ethnic items. |
| Chifeng Museum | not much online |
Jilin #
| Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo (伪满皇宫博物院) | Manchuria / Japanese related stuff. Not tons online yet. |
| Jilin Provincial Museum 吉林省博物院 | Bit of everything. Has some neolythic items. Porcelain, bronz etc. Lots of items in 3d view |
Jiangsu #
| The Museum of Guangling King’s Tomb in Han Dynasty 扬州汉广陵墓博物馆 | Mostly Han items (Jade Bi disks). not too many online |
| Nantong Museum 南通博物苑 | mostly ceramics |
| Xuzhou Museum of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses of Han Dynasty 徐州汉兵马俑博物馆 | all Han dynasty stuff from terra cotta to jade to bronze |
| Xuzhou Museum 徐州博物馆 | tons of pottery and other stuff from Han onwards. Has 3d files for some items. |
| Suzhou Museum | Not much online yet. |
| Changzhou Museum | |
| Yangzhou Museum | a bit of older pottery, early lacquerware, metal wear.. has the “Lu Kui Sheng” lacquer small table in its collection.. not many pieces online though, |
| Nanjing Museum | early han lacquerware etc all the usual stuff like early pottery. |
Jiangxi #
| Jingdezhen Ceramics Museum | dedicated to jingdezhen ceramics |
Liaoning #
| Liaoning Provincial Museum (遼寧省博物館) | has a bit of everything.. not much online though |
NingXia #
| Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum 宁夏回族自治区博物馆 | not much online. Has 3d walkthrough but pretty bad. |
Sichuan #
| Sanxingdui Museum 四川广汉三星堆博物馆 | Famous Sanxingdui bronzes and related artifacts |
| Jinsha site Museum 成都金沙遗址博物馆 | archaeological site: Mostly Jade and bronze |
Shanghai #
| Shanghai Museum | furniture, carved lacquerware (pretty big collection online), pottery etc. Pretty decent furniture collection including the tomb miniatures) |
| Shanghai History Museum 上海市历史博物馆 | |
| Long Museum West Bund | good picts but very little of the collection online. Has chinese art and revolutionary art. Some furniture also. |
Shanxi #
| Datong City Museum | stone, bronze, porcelain, gold etc. Has miniture tomb furniture. Also Northern Wei Dynasty lacquer panels. |
| Shanxi Museum 山西博物院( | about 38 pages of stuff… has 3d scans of bronzes. |
Shaanxi #
| Baoji Bronzeware Museum 宝鸡青铜器博物院 | earlier bronzes, jades and pottery |
| Xi’an Museum 西安博物院 | Everything and anything |
| Xian Banpo Museum 西安半坡博物馆 | Neolithic era items from the site |
| Shaanxi History Museum 陕西历史博物馆 | |
| Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum 秦始皇帝陵博物院官 | Xian terra cotta warriors |
Shenzhen #
| Shenzhen Amber Museum 深圳琥珀博物馆 | small museum focused on amber. |
| Shenzhen Wangye Museum | Jade, ceramics, bronze – low res photos |
| Shenzhen Museum 深圳博物馆 | good photos, multiple angles. lot of items. |
Shandong #
| Shandong Provincial Museums 山东省博物馆 | |
| Confucius Museum | |
| Jinan Museum 济南博物馆 济南博物馆 | |
| Shandong Liushi Ancient Clock Museum 山东省刘氏古钟表博物馆 | old clocks, ceramics, jades |
| Qingdao Museum 青岛市博物馆 | Has a bit of everything |
Suzhou #
| 6 arts museum 六悦博物馆 | Private folk museum. Tons of provincial furniture from the region. Liuyue Museum” opened by Mr. Du Weiming |
Tianjin #
| Tianjin Museum 天津博物馆 | limited selection of porcelain, paintings, inkstones etc… not much online. The exhibition articles have some items though. |
Tibet #
| Tibet Museum 西藏博物馆 | bit of everything related to Tibet but not many items online. |
Zhejiang #
| Zhejiang Provincial Museum 浙江省博物馆 | quite a lot of items online. Also has some 3d scans online |
| China National Silk museum | textiles, textiles and more textiles. |
Yunnan #
| Yunnan Provincial Museum 云南省博物馆 | Aside from the normal bronzes and potteries it also has lots of things about ethnic minorities |
| Kunming Museum 昆明市博物馆 | Has a 3d version you can look at. Also has 3d scans of some items. |
Xiamen #
| Overseas Chinese History Museum of China |
Xinjiang #
| Xinjiang Museum 新疆博物馆 | only 6 pages of items… |
| can also try http://39.106.27.137:8088/jeecmsv9/ | |
| Xinjiang Museum virtual walkthrough virtual walkthrough |
#
Hong Kong #
| HK Museum of art | lots of lacquer, early and late ceramics etc. Pretty basic photos though. |
| Hong Kong Palace Museum | not much online yet.. But supposedly more updates coming |
| University Museum and Art Gallery at The University of Hong Kong | limited number of items online |
| Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) | pretty good sized collection if you search. decent photos. Has han lacquer fragments and earlier lacquer fragments. |
Macau #
| The Macau Museum 澳門博物館; | small collection of porcelain, fans, export goods. |
| The Macao Museum of Art | small collection but very good clear pics… porcelain, historical picts, chinese paintings… |
