Opening Hours: 9:00–17:00 (Visitors are not admitted to enter after 16:00)

Admission Fee: 4,000 free tickets issued at the door (9:00-16:00) and 2,000 online per day

National Art Museum of China was established for the collection, research and display of art. Its main exhibition hall, covering 8,300 square meters (about 9,927 sq yd), is divided into 17 basic exhibition halls. In each of the five floors, diverse works of art display aesthetic brilliance.

At present, it has owned over 100,000 art works of various types. The main collections were created around 1949. Works created in the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Qing Dynasty (1683-1840) and the early Republic of China (1912-1949) are also significant features among the collections. Collections in it are mainly outstanding art works created by well-known artists in the modern and contemporary times, awarded works from major exhibitions and masterpieces of folk works. Furthermore, over one thousand foreign works are exhibited in it.

Fine Arts

Fine arts collected in it have mainly been created by modern artists, such as Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong, and other contemporary artists such as Wu Guanzhong, Dong Xiwen and Luo Zhongli. Their works draw great attention from Chinese people and foreign visitors.

The art collections in this museum appear in many forms, such as oil painting, traditional Chinese painting, fresco, woodcut, print, New Year painting, status, photography and calligraphy.

Qi Baishi (1864-1957), a famous Chinese artist and calligrapher from the 20th century, has created many excellent works. He is known as the “People’s Artist of China”. In Qi’s paintings, the flowers, birds, insects, mountains, water and figures are life-like, and he succeeds in expressing a distinctive art spirit, with which style his works have touched a worldwide audience. Qi Baishi has left a large number of masterpieces, the most well-known from door to door being “Shrimp” (1949). In it, 337 of Qi’s works are collected, such as “Flowers and Insects” (an album of paintings), “Willow in Water Vapor beside Lin Bridge” (1924), “Red Lotus” (1951), “Farming” (1952) and many others.

Another renowned famous master, Ren Bonian (1840-1895), also named Ren Yi, is the representative of modern art history at the end of the 19th century. His talent lies in drawing figures, natural landscape, flowers and insects. Famous for his prudent, vivid and original painting style, Ren has created paintings which are both refined and popular. There are 201 of his works collected in the museum. Among these works, “Inquiring in a Peach Garden” is regarded one of the greatest treasures in it.

There are many other masterpieces displayed in it: “Father” by Luo Zhongli, “Founding Ceremony of China” (oil painting) by Dong Xiwen, and “Occupation of the President’s Residence” (oil painting) by Chen Yifei. Foreign masterpieces are also collected here, including four oil paintings, donated from German collectors, by Pablo Picasso, founder of Cubism.Folk Arts

Folk collections are mainly divided into paper cut, shadow puppet, mask, pottery, kites and embroidery.

Shadow Puppets are distinctive presentations of ancient Chinese people’s leisure activities. Figures in the shadow puppets are mainly people of great influence in the history of China or brave and wise people from the operas. Shadow play is performed with these shadow puppets in a manner of opera performance, with singing.

Paper cuts present the wisdom of Chinese people who put the experience of their daily life into practice. They are very popular in the rural areas of China, especially in Henan and Shanxi. The paper cuts present a delicate art form, cut from paper by local people with only a pair of scissors into different patterns to take on diverse flowers, snuffs or mascots.

Masks are usually used to play operas in different areas of China, particularly for stage performance. Wearing the masks, people disguise themselves to celebrate festivals or give performances on stages.

Embroidery is also of Chinese character, having first appeared in China. With needles, the silk thread or other fibers are embroidered on a fabric into different patterns, such as mandarin ducks symbolizing eternal love, or flowers representing a happy life. The famous embroidery of China mainly originates from Suzhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Guangdong.

How to get there:Take bus No. 103, 111 and get off at the National Art Museum of China.Take bus No. 685, 101, 420, 109, 112, 609 and get off at National Art Museum East.Take bus No. 104, 108, Te 11 and get off at National Art Museum North.

Tip:Individual tourists can get the tickets at the ticket office with valid certification (such as ID Card or passport).

Add: No. 1, Wusi Ave., Dongcheng District, Beijing (北京东城区五四大街1号)

Source: travelchinaguide.com