As the "International Museum Day" on May 18, 2023 is approaching, Beijing has taken this opportunity to launch its first Beijing Museum Activity Month. Many museums such as the Capital Museum and the China Railway Museum have actively explored delayed opening service models and launched a variety of colorful activities to strive to meet the cultural needs of visitors.

The Palace Museum

The Palace Museum is a special museum established in 1925 on the basis of the Imperial Palace of Ming and Qing Dynasties, known as the Forbidden City. After six hundred years of ups and downs, the gates of the royal palace were opened to the public.

Walking into the Palace Museum, following the central axis line, one can feel the broad mind of the prosperous imperial dynasty from the ups and downs of the architectural melody; capture the gentle atmosphere of the palace life through the exquisite furnishings of the East and West Six Palaces and the elegant layout of the Inner Court Garden; and trace the historical changes of the Chinese nation's internal troubles and external turbulence from behind the yellow gauze curtains rolled up in the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Yangxin Palace... 

After nearly a hundred years, not only does the Palace Museum carefully preserve the royal palaces and treasures left over from the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also greatly enriches the collection of cultural relics through national allocation, social solicitation, and private donations, forming a series of precious collections in fields such as ancient books and paintings, antique objects, palace cultural relics, and book archives with a total of more than 1.86 million pieces. Walking through the permanent exhibition halls of cultural relics at the Palace Museum or enjoying the frequent themed exhibitions can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the great achievements of Chinese arts and crafts.

National Museum of China

The National Museum of China is commonly referred to as the NMC. It is a comprehensive museum that emphasizes both history and art, and combines collection, exhibition, research, archaeology, public education, and cultural exchange. 

The total floor area of the National Museum of China is nearly 200,000 square meters, with over 1.2 million collections and 48 exhibition halls. It is one of the world's largest museums in terms of single building area and one of the museums with the richest collection of Chinese cultural relics. The museum's overall scale is among the top in the world's museums, and it receives over 4.1 million visitors annually.

The National Museum of China is located on the east side of Tiananmen Square, echoing the Great Hall of the People. It was established in February 2003，merging from the National Museum of Chinese History and the National Museum of Chinese Revolution. 

The rich collections and displays of the National Museum of China showcase the glorious five-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation's civilization from its ancestors' creation to the present day. It is a comprehensive museum that primarily showcases history and art, systematically presenting the long-standing cultural history of the Chinese nation. The museum has an extremely rich collection of cultural relics, and its displayed exhibits are very splendid, making it an important classroom for patriotic education.

The Capital Museum 

The Capital Museum is a large modern museum that is commensurate with Beijing's status as a "historical and cultural city", "cultural center", and "international metropolis". With its grand architecture, rich exhibitions, advanced technology, and complete functions, it ranks among the top domestic and international museums. 

The building of the Capital Museum itself is a work of art that blends classical and modern aesthetics, with a strong national character and a distinctive modern sense. The huge roof inherits the deep eaves of traditional Chinese architecture, while the long stone curtain wall symbolizes ancient Chinese city walls. The sloping plaza inherits the architectural style of ancient high platforms, and the ground outside the north gate of the hall is inlaid with danbi from the Qing Dynasty, while there is a Ming Dynasty pailou in the hall, reflecting the central axis characteristics of traditional Chinese architecture. The elliptical bronze exhibition hall protrudes from the wall, symbolizing ancient cultural relics breaking through the soil. The new museum building is divided into three independent buildings: a rectangular exhibition hall, an oval thematic exhibition hall, and a strip-shaped office and research building. The space between them is the central hall and the indoor bamboo courtyard. The use of natural light, rustic Chinese-style pailou, sunken emerald bamboo courtyard, and gurgling water create an environment that combines humanistic and natural elements.

The new museum's exhibition display is based on the collections of the Capital Museum over the years and unearthed cultural relics from Beijing area, absorbing the latest research results of Beijing's history, culture, archaeology, and related disciplines, and drawing on successful experiences from domestic and foreign museums to form a modern exhibition with unique Beijing characteristics.

China Railway Museum

China Railway Museum is a professional technology museum belonging to the Chinese railway system. It was formerly known as the Technology Museum of the Ministry of Railways, which was established in 1978. After years of development, it has become an industry museum with functions such as collection, protection, research, exhibition, and dissemination. The museum is mainly responsible for the protection of cultural heritage in the railway industry, the promotion of railway technology knowledge, and the publicity of achievements in railway development. It is also responsible for the collection, preservation, display, exhibition, and research of railway historical relics and scientific research results. It has initially possessed various functions of a museum.

The East Suburb Pavilion and Zhan Tianyou Memorial Hall under the China Railway Museum will be open until 19:30 during public holidays in May and Saturdays and Sundays. At the same time, the museum will carefully plan a series of theme activities around the theme of the museum's activity month in May. We welcome all citizens to participate in and pay attention to these events.

Beijing Art Museum

Beijing Art Museum is located in the ancient Ming and Qing Dynasty temple complex of Wanshou Temple. WanShou Temple was built in the fifth year of the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, Wanshou Temple was highly valued by the royal family because of its important geographic location and auspicious name. It was continuously renovated and expanded during the Kangxi, Qianlong, and Guangxu reigns, finally forming a large-scale ancient architecture complex integrating temples, imperial palaces, and gardens.

After vicissitudes and changes over the years, the ancient temple is now open to the public as the location of the Beijing Art Museum. It is like a pearl embedded on the long river of Beijing's history and culture, shining with a brilliant light.

The museum's collection includes more than 130,000 pieces of various cultural relics, mainly including palace weaving and embroidery, calligraphy and painting, ceramics, jade, bamboo, wood, ivory, coins, furniture, and other categories. The time span ranges from primitive society to the Republic of China, with a particularly extensive collection from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

To further meet the growing needs of the public's cultural life, fully utilize the cultural benefits of the museum, enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the people, and combine with the actual situation of the Beijing Art Museum, the museum will implement delayed opening during the "May 18th International Museum Day" (from May 1st to May 31st).

The extended opening hours are from 9:00 to 19:30, and the last admission is at 19:00 (except for legal holidays, and the museum is closed on Mondays). 

This museum is not free to the public. It stays open from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM, with extended hours. The evening ticket allows entry from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM and costs 10 yuan.

The extended opening area includes the central courtyard and the Tianwang Hall ("Yuanan Fancha, exhibition of the History of the Wanshou Temple" exhibition hall), Jinxiu Fang, the carved wooden workshop, Wanshou Post Office, and the creative space on the east side of the stele pavilion. Other exhibition halls and courtyards will close promptly at 17:00.

Address: Wanshou Temple, North Road of West 3rd Ring Road, Haidian District, Beijing.

Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum

Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum are located at No.15 Guozijian Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, adjacent to the Yonghe Temple. The total area of the venue is 50,000 square meters, with ancient buildings covering an area of 18,000 square meters. It is a professional venue for inheriting and commemorating Confucius and traditional Chinese culture, and a second-level national museum. The museum consists of the Beijing Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum, which were first built in the 14th century. They were once the highest institution of learning in the country and the place where emperors offered sacrifices to Confucius. They have a history of more than 700 years through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The surviving buildings, inscriptions, ritual instruments, musical instruments, and sacrificial rituals, music, dance, etc. in the museum are all invaluable cultural heritage.

1. Confucius Temple

The eastern part of the museum is the Beijing Confucius Temple, also known as the "Xianshi Temple", covering an area of 22,000 square meters. It was first built in the sixth year of the Dade period of the Yuan Dynasty (1302) and completed in the tenth year of the Dade period (1306). It was the place where Confucius was worshipped during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and it is one of the four major Confucian temples in China along with the Nanjing Confucius Temple, Jilin Wenmiao, and Qufu Confucius Temple.

In the ninth year of the Yongle period (1411), Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty reorganized the architecture of the Confucius Temple and repaired the Dacheng Hall. In the ninth year of the Jiajing period (1530), the Chongsheng Shrine was added to worship Confucius' five generations of ancestors. In the second year of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1737), at the order of Emperor Qianlong, all the buildings in the Confucius Temple were replaced with the most noble yellow glazed tiles except for the Chongsheng Shrine, which retained its green glazed tile roof. In the 32nd year of the Guangxu period (1906), the ceremony of sacrificing to Confucius was elevated to Grand Sacrifice, and the Confucius Temple was once again extensively repaired and finally completed in 1916, forming the scale and layout seen today.

2. Guozijian Museum

The Beijing Guozijian, located on the west side of the museum and adjacent to the Temple of  Confucius, is also known as the "North Academy" or "Beiyong". It was the highest institution of learning (Taixue) and administrative organization for education in China during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The Guozijian is renowned for its long history, unique architectural style, and profound cultural connotations.

In the 24th year of the Yuan Dynasty's Zhiyuan period (1287), the Guozijian began construction. During the Yongle and Zhengtong periods of the Ming Dynasty, it underwent large-scale renovations and expansion. In the 48th year of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, a set of royal buildings, including the Piyong Hall, Liuli archway, stele pavilion, bell and drum tower, were added, forming the current layout. The overall architecture of the Guozijian adopts the traditional Chinese building layout of "facing south while sitting north and symmetrically aligned along the central axis." It consists of three courtyards with a total area of over 27,000 square meters. The main buildings, such as the Jixian Gate, Taixue Gate, Liuli archway, Piyong Hall, Yilun Hall, and Jingyi Pavilion, are distributed along the central axis.

As important venues for the imperial sacrifices to Confucius during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, as well as the highest institution of learning and administrative organization for education, the Beijing Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum once played the role of modern-day Peking University, Tsinghua University, Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, and Ministry of Education. Both groups of buildings adopt the traditional Chinese architectural style of being built along the central axis and symmetrically aligned from left to right, while also conforming to the ancient system of "the temple on the left and the academy on the right," forming a complete set of ancient buildings. Between the Temple of Confucius and the Guozijian Museum, there is also a stone forest composed of 189 tall stone tablets inscribed with Confucian classics such as Classic of Change (Zhouyi in Chinese), Classic of History (Shangshu in Chinese), Classic of Poetry (Shijing in Chinese), and the Analects of Confucius (Lunyu in Chinese). The total number of characters engraved on these stone tablets exceeds 630,000, with a grand scale, neat calligraphy, exquisite craftsmanship, and significant historical and artistic value.

In 1961, the State Council announced the Guozijian Museum as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 1988, the Beijing Confucius Temple was listed as one of the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 2005, the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government invested over 100 million yuan to renovate the Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum, and establish the Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum. It was officially opened to the public on June 14, 2008. The museum now has more than 2,000 pieces (sets) of cultural relics, mainly including stone tools, stone carvings, bronze ware, tableware, wine utensils, ironware, porcelain, bamboo ware, woodwork, jade ware, etc. Precious collections include the Qianlong Stone Drum, the twenty-sixth year of the Qianlong period's blue-jade dragon-patterned special chime, the seven-stringed qin made in the thirty-fourth year of the Qianlong period, and the embroidered clothes with sesame white silk and kingfisher bird patterns.

To actively respond to the "Beijing Museum Activity Month" organized by the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau and further meet the visiting needs of the general audience, the Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum will extend its opening hours from May 1st to June 3rd (part of the exhibition halls will remain open during the extended hours). The specific arrangements are as follows:

From May 1st to June 3rd, 2023, the opening hours will be extended from 8:30 to 19:30 (entrance stops at 19:00), and the museum will be closed every Monday (except during holidays).

Please make an appointment and purchase tickets through official channels of the Beijing Confucius Temple and Guozijian Museum in advance.

Address: No.15 Guozijian Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing.

Translator: TANG Yingqi

Reviewer: WANG Yiwen