
As of 2025, there are 7,048 museums in China,[1] including 3,054 state-owned museums (museums run by national and local government or universities) and 535 private museums. In 2021, the nation's museums saw approximately 779 million visitors.[2] Some museums of cultural relics, such as the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi'an, have become internationally known tourist attractions. The government has exchanges of cultural relics exhibitions between museums and promotes the display and exchanges of legal non-governmental collections. The museums are classified into several grades, with the national first-grade museums being the highest classification.
List
Below is a list of museums in China grouped by the provinces or municipalities where they are located.
Anhui
- Anhui Provincial Museum
- Anhui Hall of Fame
- Anhui Paleontology Fossil Museum
- Bengbu Museum
- China Huizhou Tax Museum
- Ma'anshan Museum
- She County Museum
Beijing
- Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum
- Beijing Folk Arts Museum
- Beijing Liao and Jin City Wall Museum
- Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art
- Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall
- Capital Museum
- China Agricultural Museum
- China Civil Aviation Museum
- China Museum of Telecommunications
- China National Film Museum
- China National Post and Postage Stamp Museum
- China Numismatic Museum
- China Printing Museum
- China Railway Museum
- China Science and Technology Museum[3]
- Dabaotai Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum
- Digital Beijing Building
- Geological Museum of China
- Guanfu Museum (private)
- International Friendship Museum
- Lu Xun Museum
- Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
- Ming City Wall Relics Park
- Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression[4]: 40
- Museum of the Communist Party of China[5]: 163
- National Art Museum of China
- National Museum of China
- National Natural History Museum of China
- Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
- Paleozoological Museum of China
- Shangyuan Art Museum
- Western Zhou Yan State Capital Museum
- Madame Tussauds Beijing
Chongqing
Fujian
- Fujian Museum, Fuzhou
- Guanfu Museum (private), Xiamen
- Jinjiang Museum, Jinjiang
- Quanzhou Museum
- Quanzhou Maritime Museum, which houses the Quanzhou ship
Gansu
- Dunhuang County Museum
- Gansu Provincial Museum (Lanzhou)
- Lanzhou Museum (Lanzhou)
- Silk Route Museum
Guangdong
- Dongguan Science and Technology Museum
- Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou
- Nanyue King Museum, Guangzhou
- Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
- Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History
- Guangdong Provincial Museum, Guangzhou
- Longgang Museum of Hakka Culture, Longgang
- Pagoda Park Cultural Revolution Museum[6]: 333
- Shenzhen Museum, Shenzhen
- Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning
- Wangye Museum, Shenzhen
Guangxi
Guizhou
Hainan
Hebei
Harbin
Heilongjiang
Henan
Hong Kong SAR
Hubei
- Hubei Provincial Museum
- Wuhan Museum
- Underground Project 131, in Xianning Prefecture
- Yifu Museum of China University of Geosciences
- Madame Tussauds Wuhan
Hunan
Inner Mongolia
Jiangsu
Nanjing

- China Modern History Museum, Nanjing
- Nanjing Museum
- Nanjing Municipal Museum
- Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, Nanjing[4]: 40
- Nanjing Museum of the Site of the Lijixiang Comfort Stations[4]: 40
- Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum, Nanjing
Suzhou
- Suzhou Museum
- Suzhou Arts and Crafts Museum
- Changzhou Museum, Suzhou
- Zhenjiang Museum, Suzhou
- Yangzhou Museum and China Block Printing Museum (the two are locally known as the "double museum", as they share the lobby section), Suzhou
Xuzhou
Other cities
Jiangxi
Jilin
Liaoning
Macau
Ningxia
Qinghai
Shaanxi
- Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an
- Xi'an Stele Forest Museum (Beilin), Xi'an
- Terracotta Army, Xi'an
- Xi'an Banpo Museum, Xi'an
- Maoling Museum, Xianyang
- Xi'an Museum (within grounds of Jianfu Temple), Xi'an
- Xianyang Museum, Xianyang
- Baoji Bronzeware Museum, Baoji
- HanYangLing Mausoleum Museum, Xi'an
Shandong
Shanghai
- Aurora Art Museum[7]
- China Art Museum
- China Maritime Museum
- Chinese Comfort Women History Museum[4]: 40
- C. Y. Tung Maritime Museum
- Fotografiska Shanghai
- Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai
- Power Station of Art
- Rockbund Art Museum
- Shanghai Art Collection Museum
- Shanghai Entomological Museum
- Shanghai Film Museum
- Shanghai History Museum
- Shanghai International Wine & Spirits Museum
- Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum[8]
- Shanghai Mazu Cultural Palace
- Shanghai Museum
- Shanghai Museum of Public Security
- Shanghai Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Shanghai Natural History Museum
- Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
- Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center[9]
- Shanghai Water Displaying Hall
- Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party[10]: 30–34
- Yuz Museum
- Long Museum
- Guangfulin Relics Park
- Madame Tussauds Shanghai
Shanxi
- Chinese Dictionary Museum
- Shanxi Provincial Museum (Taiyuan)
- Shanxi Provincial Museum of Art (Taiyuan)
- Datong Museum (Lower Huayan Monastery of Datong)
- The Coal Museum of China (Taiyuan)
Sichuan
- Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong
- Zigong Salt History Museum, Zigong
- Sichuan Science and Technology Museum, Chengdu
- Du Fu Cao Tang (Thatched Cottage of Du Fu), Chengdu
- Sanxingdui Museum
- Jinsha Site Museum
- China Colour Lantern Museum
- Jianchuan Museum Cluster[6]: 327
- Liu Family Estate Museum, formerly Dayi Landlord Manor Exhibition Hall, in Anren, Dayi County[6]: 326
Tianjin
Tibet Autonomous Region
Xinjiang
Yunnan
Zhejiang
- Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou
- Zhejiang Museum of Natural History
- Hangzhou Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum
- Hangzhou World Numismatic Museum
- Liangzhu Culture Museum
- China National Tea Museum, Hangzhou
- China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou
- Zhoushan Museum
- China Finance and Taxation Museum
- China Shoes Museum, Wenzhou
- China Grand Canal Museum
- The National Sauce Culture Museum of China
- Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum, Hangzhou
- Chinese Seal Museum, Hangzhou
See also
References
- 李潇阳. "Traditional museums in China get innovative to woo the public-- Beijing Review". www.bjreview.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
- 陈柳兵. "Nation's museums attracted almost 780 million visitors in 2021". global.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
- "中国科学技术馆".
- Pan, Yihong (2025). Not Just a Man's War: Chinese Women's Memories of the War of Resistance Against Japan, 1931-45. University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 9780774870368.
- Lu, Feingming (2025). "Neo-Maoist Sticks and Nationalist Carrots: Maintaining Party Cohesion in the New Era". In Hillman, Ben; Ji, Fengyuan (eds.). The Communist Party of China: Understanding the Durability of the World's Most Powerful Political Organization. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009668385. ISBN 978-1-009-66843-9.
- Li, Jie (2016). "Museums and Memorials of the Mao Era: A Survey and Notes for Future Curators". In Li, Jie; Zhang, Enhua (eds.). Red Legacies in China: Cultural Afterlives of the Communist Revolution. Harvard Contemporary China Series. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-73718-1.
- Aurora Museum
- Zhang, Chuchu (2025). China's Changing Role in the Middle East: Filling a Power Vacuum?. Changing Dynamics in Asia-Middle East Relations series. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-032-76275-3.
- Lin, Zhongjie (2025). Constructing Utopias: China's New Town Movement in the 21st Century. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-19-779330-5.
- Y. Ho, Denise (2016). "Making a Revolutionary Monument: The Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party". In Li, Jie; Zhang, Enhua (eds.). Red Legacies in China: Cultural Afterlives of the Communist Revolution. Harvard Contemporary China series. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-73718-1.
External links
- Museums in China (English, by chinaculture.org)
- Museums in China overview
- China Museums directory (in Chinese)
- China Museums Guide
- Beijing's Museums & Galleries - China.org.cn
- Chinese Museums with English language websites
- "China to Have 3,000 Museums by 2015"
- "Another 1,200 museums open for free by 2009"
- Nanjing's Museums & Galleries - TheNanjinger.com
- China Museum Index
- 10 Popular Museums worth Visiting on Your China Tour