Shanghai Museum: A Dialogue Across Civilizations — Shanghai guide

An In-Depth Guide for International Visitors (Extended Edition)

This guide is based on official Shanghai Museum materials and the latest 2026 exhibition information. All exhibition dates, ticket prices, and opening hours are subject to real-time updates from the official Shanghai Museum WeChat Mini Program.

Introduction: Why the Shanghai Museum?

Among Shanghai's many world-class cultural landmarks, the Shanghai Museum stands apart for its unparalleled depth of collection, cutting-edge visitor experiences, and a steady stream of internationally acclaimed special exhibitions. For any international visitor, it is an essential destination.

In 2025, the Shanghai Museum East Branch welcomed 4.6 million visitors, ranking eighth among the world's most-visited art museums — the only Chinese museum in the global top ten. Behind that figure lies the museum's relentless pursuit of making cultural artifacts truly come alive: from the world's first AI-glasses museum guide, to hands-on artifact samples visitors can actually touch, to immersive VR journeys through ancient civilizations, the museum keeps redefining what a museum visit can mean.

If you have just one day to explore five thousand years of Chinese civilization, come to the Shanghai Museum. If you want to encounter the diverse faces of the world's ancient civilizations under one roof, come to the Shanghai Museum.

Part One: The Museum at a Glance

From 1874 to Today: A City's Cultural Memory

The Shanghai Museum's roots reach back to 1874, when the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland established a museum institution in Shanghai — one of the earliest Western-style museum organizations in the city and an early testament to its openness and cosmopolitan spirit. In 1952, on that foundation, the newly established Shanghai Museum of the People's Republic of China began systematically consolidating cultural heritage from the Jiangnan region. Through more than half a century of growth, it evolved into one of China's most important comprehensive museums.

Today, the Shanghai Museum is expanding through its "Grand Museum" initiative, transforming from a single People's Square venue into a global cluster of three established branches and more to come. The People's Square Branch and the East Branch are fully open; the North Branch is under development; future plans include a West Branch, a South Branch, and even an overseas branch — the first of which is planned for the United States. This is not merely an expansion in scale but an expression of cultural ambition: to bring Chinese civilization and the world's diverse civilizations into genuine, equal dialogue under one roof.

People's Square Branch: A Meeting Place for World Civilizations

Address: 201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu District, Shanghai Hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, closed Mondays (holiday schedules per official notices) Admission: Permanent galleries free; special exhibitions priced separately

The People's Square Branch serves as the museum's "World Civilizations Hall," strategically positioned as the premier venue for international-caliber artifacts and cross-cultural exhibitions. Its imposing domed exterior and warm interior sit at the heart of Shanghai's city center, amid green parkland — making it the natural first cultural stop for any international visitor newly arrived in the city.

From its permanent specialty galleries (the Ming-Qing Furniture Gallery and the Ethnic Minorities Crafts Gallery) to its ongoing international exhibitions, every show here builds a cultural bridge across borders. In July 2026, that bridge will extend to the Americas, when the largest exhibition of ancient American civilizations ever mounted anywhere in the world opens here for a 16-month run.

For international visitors: The People's Square Branch is exceptionally well-connected by public transport in central Shanghai. Shanghai City Hall and People's Park are nearby, making it easy to combine with a broader sightseeing itinerary.

East Branch: The World's Foremost Museum of Ancient Chinese Art

Address: 1952 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai Hours: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, closed Tuesdays Admission: Permanent galleries free, no reservation required; special exhibitions require advance booking; daily visitor capacity capped at 30,000

The Shanghai Museum East Branch is currently Asia's largest museum dedicated to ancient Chinese art, with a floor area of approximately 113,000 square meters, 20 galleries and interactive spaces, and more than 15,000 artifacts on display — over 10 percent of which are classified as rare cultural treasures.

The building itself is a work of art: sections of the exterior are wrapped in flowing natural marble, evoking wave upon wave of the sea, both reflecting Shanghai's identity as a port city and embodying its spirit of openness to the world. Inside, a wide skylit atrium draws natural light into the galleries, creating an atmosphere of spacious calm even as visitors study intricate objects.

The East Branch sits within the Century Avenue Cultural Belt in Pudong, alongside the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the Shanghai Library East Branch, and the Oriental Art Center — forming one of Shanghai's densest concentrations of world-class cultural venues, all reachable in a single outing.

For international visitors: The East Branch is roughly a 10-minute walk from Century Avenue Station on Metro Line 2. Plan to spend a full day, and book in advance through the official WeChat Mini Program (tickets released daily at noon, bookable up to 14 days ahead). The best windows to catch remaining tickets are the evening before between 7:00 and 8:00 PM, the morning of between 7:00 and 8:00 AM, and at noon.

North Branch (Under Development): Watching History Come Out of the Water

Planned location: Former Shanghai Shipyard site, Yangpu District waterfront Estimated opening: 2026–2030

The North Branch owes its existence to a ship that sank more than 300 years ago. In 2022, archaeologists discovered the "Yangtze River Estuary Number Two" — a remarkably well-preserved Qing dynasty wooden sailing vessel, its cargo of porcelain still intact, one of the largest and best-preserved ancient wooden shipwrecks ever found underwater in China. To bring this major archaeological discovery fully to the public, the museum decided to build the North Branch at the former Shanghai Shipyard site on the Yangpu waterfront, purpose-built around the wreck.

The North Branch's defining feature will be its status as the world's first "living museum": excavation and public visiting will happen simultaneously, allowing visitors to witness firsthand the complete process by which artifacts are discovered, lifted from the water, and documented. This is a revolutionary shift in what a museum can be — not a static display of settled answers, but an invitation to witness history being unearthed in real time.

For international visitors: The North Branch is still in development, expected to open during China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030). Visitors with an interest in archaeology or Chinese maritime history are encouraged to follow the museum's official channels for updates.

Part Two: Essential Galleries — A Gallery-by-Gallery Deep Dive

East Branch Permanent Exhibitions: A Panoramic View of Ancient Chinese Art

Gallery 1: Ancient Chinese Bronzes (East Branch, Ground Floor)

Visitor rating: Five stars — the place to start Recommended visit time: 60 to 90 minutes

For any international visitor encountering ancient Chinese art for the first time, the Bronze Gallery is the ideal starting point. This is China's most authoritative dedicated bronze gallery, housing hundreds of major vessels from the late Shang dynasty through the Warring States period — described as "a history of ancient Chinese art you can read with your eyes."

Star piece: the Great Ke Ding Cast in the mid-Western Zhou period (roughly the 9th century BC), this vessel stands 93.1 centimetres tall and weighs over 200 kilograms. Inside the vessel wall is an inscription of 290 characters recording the Zhou king's investiture and gifts to an aristocrat named Ke — a national-level artifact that documents Western Zhou ritual, politics, and the art of calligraphy all at once. Together with the Great Yu Ding and the Mao Gong Ding, it was known in the late Qing dynasty as "the three great treasures of the realm," and its form directly inspired the design of the Shanghai Museum's emblem.

Beyond the Great Ke Ding, the gallery holds the Great Yu Ding (Western Zhou, reign of King Kang, with a 291-character inscription recording the king's admonishments and grants to an aristocrat named Yu), the Xi Zun (Spring and Autumn period, an ox-shaped vessel of extraordinary craftsmanship), and the Marquis of Jin Su Bells (Western Zhou, a set of 16 chime bells whose inscription provides a complete record of the Marquis of Jin's military campaigns).

Cultural context for international visitors In ancient China, bronze vessels were not merely objects — they were the physical embodiment of political power and ritual order. During the Shang and Zhou periods, the number and specifications of bronze ritual vessels a person possessed directly reflected their social standing: "Nine ding for the Son of Heaven, seven for the feudal lords." This tradition of "enshrining ritual in vessel" makes Chinese bronzes fundamentally different from the bronze civilizations of the contemporary Mediterranean or West Asia, and one of the most important entry points for understanding what makes Chinese civilization distinctive.

Note for visitors: As of the latest information available, the East Branch Bronze Gallery has been closed since May 2024 for a major renovation and is expected to reopen by the end of June 2026. Please confirm the gallery's opening status through the official WeChat Mini Program before your visit. When it reopens, the collection will be richer and the displays significantly refreshed.

Special experience: AI glasses guided tour The Bronze Gallery is the launch venue for the world's first AI-glasses museum guide (officially launched on 18 May 2026, jointly developed by the Shanghai Museum, Rokid, and Yunguanbo). Wearing these lightweight AI glasses, the system automatically identifies whichever artifact you are looking at, triggering in-depth commentary without any manual input. It supports Chinese-English bilingual switching, sustains more than 20 rounds of continuous conversation, and can even understand informal references like "this one" or "the piece up there." Rental is 20 yuan per session, available at the Bronze Gallery entrance. Advance reservation through the official Mini Program is recommended.

Gallery 2: Chinese Ceramics Through the Ages (East Branch, Third Floor)

Visitor rating: Five stars — not to be missed Recommended visit time: 45 to 60 minutes

The Shanghai Museum's ceramics collection is celebrated for its comprehensiveness, described by Chinese museum scholars as "half the canon of Chinese ceramic history." The gallery displays 558 pieces and sets spanning from the Neolithic period to the end of the Qing dynasty, presenting roughly 8,000 years of ceramic development.

Why ceramics matter for understanding Chinese civilization In English, "China" is both the country's name and the word for porcelain — and that is no coincidence. From the primitive stoneware of the Shang and Zhou periods to Tang tricolor glazed ware, from the five great kilns of the Song dynasty to the imperial kilns of the Ming and Qing, ceramics represent one of China's most enduring and far-reaching contributions to global material culture. In the Ceramics Gallery, you will witness how this technology evolved from the firing of ancient clay into one of the most refined craft achievements in human history.

Gallery highlights

The five great kilns of the Song dynasty — Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, and Ding: The Song dynasty was the golden age of Chinese ceramic aesthetics, prizing restraint and the beauty of simplicity. The rarest is Ru ware, of which fewer than 100 pieces survive; its characteristic "sky celadon" glaze is universally regarded as the pinnacle of Chinese ceramics. The Shanghai Museum's Song dynasty holdings are among the finest in any museum on the Chinese mainland.
Yuan dynasty blue-and-white porcelain: The Yuan dynasty blue-and-white style was a pivotal turning point — its white ground with blue decoration profoundly influenced global ceramic aesthetics for the following 700 years, including Dutch Delftware and Persian pottery.
Ming and Qing imperial kiln masterworks: The gallery displays imperial kiln porcelain from the Yongle and Xuande reigns of the Ming dynasty and the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns of the Qing, representing the absolute peak of imperial ceramic craft.

Exclusive hands-on experience: touchable artifact samples The Shanghai Museum Ceramics Gallery was the first in the world to establish a "touch the artifact" interactive zone, where visitors can handle an actual sample piece — a genuine Qing dynasty Kangxi-period underglaze blue-and-white porcelain vase. Running your fingers over the dense porcelain body, the cool smoothness of the glaze, and the subtly raised brushwork of the painted decoration is a multi-sensory experience available nowhere else — one that completely breaks through the traditional museum rule of "look, never touch."

Gallery 3: Chinese Calligraphy Through the Ages (East Branch, Second Floor)

Visitor rating: Four and a half stars — highly recommended Recommended visit time: 30 to 45 minutes

Calligraphy is one of China's most distinctive art forms — the elevation of writing into a pure aesthetic act, on a par with painting and music. The Calligraphy Gallery presents a systematic survey of the entire history of Chinese calligraphy, from pre-Qin oracle-bone script and bronze inscriptions through Han clerical script, Tang regular script, Song semi-cursive, and the free-flowing cursive styles of the Ming and Qing. It is one of the most comprehensive dedicated calligraphy galleries in the world.

Key works

Wang Xizhi's "Lantingji Xu" (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems), facsimile copy: The original was lost over a thousand years ago. Wang Xizhi (303–361 AD), revered as the "Sage of Calligraphy," produced this work — considered the supreme achievement in semi-cursive script — to accompany a literati gathering at the Orchid Pavilion. Its fluid, natural brushwork is the quintessential expression of the Chinese scholar's aesthetic spirit.
Yan Zhenqing's "Ji Zhi Wengao" (Draft Eulogy for His Nephew), facsimile copy: Written by Yan Zhenqing (709–785 AD) in profound grief for his nephew, the work vibrates with raw emotion in every stroke. Together with the Orchid Pavilion Preface, it is considered one of "the two supreme works in semi-cursive script in all of history" — not only a work of calligraphy but an emotional witness to the Tang dynasty.

Technical highlight: motion-activated lighting The Calligraphy Gallery uses a motion-sensing lighting system: when you pause in front of a piece, a dedicated soft light automatically activates, casting the ideal angle of illumination on the subtle rises and falls of the ink. The design protects the works while enhancing the viewing experience, lending each encounter a quiet ceremonial quality.

Cultural note for international visitors You do not need to understand the meaning of the characters to appreciate Chinese calligraphy. Pay attention to the variation in stroke thickness, the rhythm of individual marks, and the flowing continuity of each line — and you are, in essence, listening to silent music. Wang Xizhi's semi-cursive flows like spring water; Yan Zhenqing's regular script stands firm as bedrock. The difference in style is a projection of two entirely different personalities and eras.

Gallery 4: Chinese Paintings Through the Ages (East Branch, Second Floor)

Visitor rating: Five stars — the East Branch at its finest Recommended visit time: 45 to 60 minutes (including the digital gallery)

The Painting Gallery presents masterworks from the Five Dynasties period through the Ming and Qing, focusing on landscape, bird-and-flower, and figure painting — together forming a history of the Chinese literati spirit that you can read with your eyes.

Key works

Guo Xi's "Early Spring," Northern Song dynasty: The painting depicts a mountain landscape at the first stirring of spring — morning mist beginning to lift, vegetation just awakening. Guo Xi was celebrated for his "three distance" compositional method, and this work is considered one of the supreme achievements of Northern Song court landscape painting.
Ma Yuan's "Farmers Singing and Dancing," Southern Song dynasty: The painting shows the joy of farmers treading and singing beside a stream after rain. Ma Yuan was known as "Ma of the Corner" for his spare compositions, leaving vast expanses of empty space to create a sense of poetic openness — a strikingly different aesthetic from Western painting traditions, and well worth pausing over.

"Mountains and Rivers of Jiangnan" Immersive Digital Gallery (East Branch, Third Floor) This is an important extension of the Painting Gallery and one of the East Branch's most innovative spaces. Using VR technology and large-scale digital projection, the museum's ancient paintings and calligraphy are brought back to life: the texture of rock formations unfolds around you, the misty rain of Jiangnan drifts through the space, and you can "step into" a Song dynasty landscape and feel the time and space conjured by the artist's brush. For any international visitor with an interest in classical Chinese aesthetics, this is an experience that no amount of reading can replicate.

Gallery 5: Archaeology of Shanghai (East Branch, Fourth Floor)

Visitor rating: Four and a half stars — the essential entry point for understanding Shanghai Recommended visit time: 30 to 45 minutes

Many international visitors know Shanghai primarily through its 19th-century treaty-port history and foreign concessions. But the city's cultural roots run far deeper — Shanghai has a human history of over 6,000 years and is one of the most important sites of prehistoric civilization along China's eastern coast.

The gallery covers roughly 1,000 square meters and presents over 2,000 artifacts, tracing Shanghai's history through three peaks:

The prehistoric "ancient state" era (roughly 6,000 to 4,000 years ago): The Liangzhu culture extended its reach into the Shanghai region, represented by jade objects and ceremonial sites that illuminate the earliest forms of Chinese civilization in the Yangtze River Delta.
The Tang-Song "ancient port" era: As a key transshipment point linking the inland waterways with the maritime Silk Road, Shanghai was already a busy trading hub during the Tang and Song dynasties, as evidenced by ceramic imports from Central Asia and Southeast Asia.
The Ming-Qing "ancient city" era: The layout of Ming dynasty Shanghai County and the city's pre-concession Qing dynasty form laid the spatial foundations of modern Shanghai.

Cultural note for international visitors: If you are curious about modern Shanghai's reputation as a dynamic cultural crucible — the "Magic Capital" — start here and see the city's energy in the context of a much longer history.

Gallery 6: Jiangnan Crafts (East Branch, Fourth Floor)

Visitor rating: Four and a half stars — a window onto Chinese living aesthetics Recommended visit time: 30 to 45 minutes

"Jiangnan" literally means "south of the Yangtze River" — historically China's wealthiest, most refined, and most literati-infused regional culture, which gave rise to Suzhou embroidery, lacquerware, nut carving, bamboo engraving, and Ming-style furniture, among other enduring craft traditions. The Jiangnan Crafts Gallery is the best entry point into this world of refined material culture.

Central exhibits: Ming and Qing furniture The Shanghai Museum's Ming and Qing furniture collection is celebrated for both quality and quantity — one of the richest such collections in the world. Its heart comes from two legendary collector-scholars: Wang Shixiang and Chen Mengjia.

Wang Shixiang (1914–2009), hailed as "the last literati connoisseur in China," devoted his life to researching traditional Chinese crafts. His landmark work, "A Study of Ming Furniture," remains the authoritative international reference for Chinese furniture. His donations, together with pieces from Chen Mengjia — a renowned scholar and archaeologist — form the core of the museum's Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery.

Why Ming furniture is worth an international visitor's attention Ming-style furniture (roughly 14th to 17th century) used rare hardwoods such as huanghuali and zitan, joined entirely by mortise-and-tenon construction rather than nails, and celebrated simplicity of proportion and refined surface detail. This "aesthetics of reduction" resonates deeply with Zen thought and went on to exert a profound influence on 20th-century Scandinavian furniture design — notably the work of Danish designer Hans Wegner. Viewing Ming furniture in a museum is like encountering an "Eastern Bauhaus."

People's Square Branch: Permanent Specialty Galleries

Gallery 7: Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery (People's Square Branch)

Visitor rating: Five stars — a world-class collection Recommended visit time: 30 to 45 minutes

The Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery at the People's Square Branch complements the furniture displays at the East Branch's Jiangnan Crafts Gallery, together forming the complete picture of the museum's furniture holdings. The gallery presents more than 100 masterpieces, including:

Huanghuali official's hat armchair with four protruding ends: The tops of the back stiles and the front armrest ends each extend slightly beyond the frame — like the flaring wings of an ancient official's hat — creating the most elegantly proportioned classic form in Ming-style seating. The huanghuali wood grain is fine and flowing as drifting clouds; even after several centuries, the wood still faintly releases a subtle, delicate fragrance.
Zitan painting table with triple-curved legs: The triple-curved leg is the signature design motif of Qing-style furniture — each leg bends three times in sequence, the lines rising and falling like the brushwork of semi-cursive calligraphy. Zitan is extraordinarily dense and deep in color; during the Ming and Qing periods, it was considered so precious that a common saying held it worth its weight in gold.

Cultural note for international visitors: As you look at Chinese furniture, pay attention to the joinery. Every piece in the Shanghai Museum collection is built with traditional mortise-and-tenon construction — not a single nail. The structural integrity of each piece relies entirely on the geometric interlocking of wood components, with a precision that rivals fine engineering.

Gallery 8: Ethnic Minorities Crafts Gallery (People's Square Branch)

Visitor rating: Four and a half stars — a window onto China's cultural diversity Recommended visit time: 30 to 45 minutes

China is a multi-ethnic civilization composed of 56 peoples. The 55 ethnic minorities beyond the Han majority have together created an extraordinary variety of regional cultural traditions. The Ethnic Minorities Crafts Gallery holds nearly 600 masterworks from these communities, offering international visitors an invaluable window onto China's cultural richness.

Representative works

Miao silver ornaments: The ceremonial silver dress of a Miao woman can weigh over 10 kilograms, known for its densely engraved patterns and imposing presence. Silver carries sacred meaning in Miao culture — warding off evil and offering protection — and every piece of silverwork is a wearable narrative of ethnic identity and community history.
Tibetan thangka paintings: Thangkas are among the most important forms of religious art in Tibetan Buddhism, painted in mineral pigments on cloth and retaining their vivid colors for centuries. Their compositions follow strict iconographic conventions, with dense assemblages of deities and scenes that encode a complete cosmological system.
Zhuang embroidery and Uyghur wood carving: The geometric abstraction of Zhuang brocade and the intricate floral patterns of Uyghur architectural wood carving together display the mastery of textile and decorative arts found across China's many peoples.

Cultural note for international visitors: Visiting this gallery helps correct the common misperception that "Chinese culture equals Han culture." The different peoples of China's southwest, northwest, northeast, and the Tibetan plateau have deep historical ties with the civilizations of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Siberia, and the Indian subcontinent, forming a vital foundation for the diverse, pluralistic character of Chinese civilization.

Part Three: Current Special Exhibitions

Exhibition One: The World Tree — Ancient Civilizations of the Americas (9 July 2026 to 14 November 2027)

Location: People's Square Branch, floors one through three Duration: 16 months (from 9 July 2026) Scale: 1,129 groups comprising nearly 3,000 artifacts, borrowed from over 100 institutions worldwide

This is the largest, highest-caliber, and most narratively complete special exhibition of ancient American civilizations ever mounted anywhere in the world. It is the sixth major offering in the Shanghai Museum's "Dialogue with the World" series, following the landmark 2023–2024 blockbuster "Secrets of the Pyramids: The Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition."

Why this exhibition matters on the global museum stage The ancient civilizations of the Americas have long occupied the margins of narratives dominated by European perspectives on world history. The Olmec, Maya, Aztec (Mexico), and Inca (Peru) civilizations each independently developed their own calendar systems, writing systems, urban planning, and religious cosmologies. Reinterpreting these civilizations from a Chinese vantage point in Shanghai opens entirely new possibilities for cross-civilizational dialogue — two ancient worlds, each with thousands of years of continuous history, meeting for the first time on equal terms in an Eastern museum.

Two major sections

Section One: Sacred Time and Space — Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is one of the handful of regions on Earth where writing systems developed independently. The exhibition provides a panoramic view of five civilizations — the Olmec, Toltec, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Maya — including:

Olmec Colossal Head Number Four: Weighing approximately 4.5 tonnes, this is one of the largest known Olmec stone heads. The Olmec civilization (roughly 1500 to 400 BC) has been called the "mother culture of Mesoamerica," and its religious imagery, ritual traditions, and mythological systems profoundly influenced the later Maya and Aztec civilizations. The head features a broad face, thick lips, and a helmet; scholars believe it may represent a ruler or a ball-game champion.
Calakmul Stele Number 51: Standing 4 metres tall, this monument is inscribed in Maya script with the dynastic history of the Maya city-state of Calakmul in the 7th century AD — one of the richest steles in terms of Maya inscriptional content. Calakmul was a superpower of the Classic Maya period, rivalling Tikal (in present-day Guatemala), with a population that at its peak numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

Section Two: The Golden Empire — Machu Picchu Treasures

The Inca Empire (1438–1533 AD) was the largest political entity in the history of the Americas, stretching across present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and western Argentina. This empire — which had no writing system yet built a road network exceeding 20,000 kilometres — was celebrated for its masterful goldwork and stone construction.

The exhibition brings together precious artifacts from Machu Picchu — the "Lost Inca City," built in the 1450s at an elevation of 2,430 metres in the Andes and rediscovered by the West in 1911 — including golden headdresses of Inca nobility, painted ceramics, and textiles that reveal the daily life and religious ceremonies of this mysterious mountain city.

Exhibition highlights on-site The People's Square Branch will complete a full renovation to create over 10,000 square meters of immersive scenographic space. Among the features already announced: the main exhibition entrance will be fronted by an actual growing cornfield. In Mesoamerican civilization, corn occupies a central place in creation mythology — the Maya sacred text "Popol Vuh" holds that humanity was made from corn — making this cornfield both a visual spectacle and a cultural metaphor.

Ticket information (as of the time of writing)

Ticket type	Price
Early-bird (limited to 200,000 tickets, on sale now)	120 yuan
Full price (from noon on 1 June 2026)	148 yuan
Selected-date ticket	135 yuan
Concession (students, seniors, etc.)	74 yuan
Family ticket A (one adult, one child)	128 yuan
Family ticket B (two adults, one child)	200 yuan

Purchase channels: Shanghai Museum official WeChat Mini Program (full-price tickets); "Shanghai Metropolis Tourist Card" Mini Program (Shanghai Pass bundle ticket).

Exhibition Two: The Founding of China — Qin: The Road to Unification (10 June to 7 September 2026)

Location: East Branch, Bright Dairy Special Exhibition Hall Number One Scale: 328 sets comprising 510 artifacts, from 14 archaeological and museum institutions across Shanghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi

This is the fifth exhibition in the Shanghai Museum's "What Makes China?" archaeological series, focusing on the rise of the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) — China's first unified empire.

Background and significance The Qin dynasty lasted only 15 years, yet it accomplished the most decisive political integration in Chinese history: standardizing writing, weights and measures, and currency; abolishing the feudal system and replacing it with directly governed prefectures and counties; and establishing the fundamental structure of "unified empire" that would define Chinese civilization for more than 2,000 years. But the Qin story does not begin in 221 BC with the moment of unification — it begins centuries earlier, when a border clan from eastern Gansu, regarded as outsiders by the Zhou civilization, gradually moved from the margins to the center of history through military expansion, institutional innovation, and cultural integration.

This exhibition tells that story of a rise spanning several hundred years.

Core artifacts The exhibition draws from 14 institutions, including the Gansu Provincial Museum, the Gansu Provincial Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Lixian County Museum (site of early Qin capitals), the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, and the Shaanxi History Museum — a total of 328 sets comprising 510 objects, including early Qin cultural remains from Lixian County in Gansu that reveal the Qin clan's social forms in the early Western Zhou period; important bronze ritual vessels such as the Qin Duke Ding, whose inscriptions document early Qin rulers and their ritual activities; and unification-era artifacts including standardized coinage and weights and measures that vividly illustrate the sweeping reforms of the First Emperor.

Cultural context for international visitors Western media often reduce the Qin dynasty to "the first Chinese emperor," but this exhibition presents a far more complex historical process. Through archaeological objects, it shows how the Qin evolved from an outsider to Zhou ritual civilization, progressively absorbing, transforming, and ultimately unifying diverse regional cultures into a single state bound together by law, script, and roads. For any international visitor who wants to go beyond the textbook version of Qin history, this exhibition offers an irreplaceable first-hand encounter with the archaeology.

Practical information The exhibition is at the East Branch, running through 7 September 2026. It is recommended to combine it with the East Branch's permanent galleries. Advance booking through the official WeChat Mini Program is required for special exhibitions.

Part Four: Must-Try Experiences

Experience One: AI Glasses Guided Tour (East Branch, launched 18 May 2026)

This is a world-first in the museum sector, jointly developed by the Shanghai Museum with tech company Rokid and Yunguanbo, officially launched on 18 May 2026 — International Museum Day. The lightweight AI glasses, based on the Rokid Glass3 platform, fundamentally change the way visitors receive information in the museum.

Core features

Automatic artifact recognition: A camera built into the frame continuously scans your field of view, automatically identifying whichever artifact you are looking at — no manual searching or QR scanning required.
Seamless commentary triggering: When you pause in front of a significant artifact for more than a few seconds, the system automatically delivers an in-depth commentary on that piece, with no voice command or button press needed.
More than 20 rounds of continuous conversation: Ask follow-up questions on any single artifact or gallery topic — "What do the patterns on this ding represent?" or "What comparable objects existed in Egypt at the same time?"
Natural-language reference recognition: The system accurately understands informal references such as "this one," "the piece above," or "the one you just mentioned."
Chinese-English bilingual support: International visitors who speak English can interact entirely in English, with commentary covering historical context, craft analysis, and scholarly interpretation.

Personalised learning path The system records how long you pause before each artifact and tracks your interaction preferences, progressively building a personal "interest map" that recommends pieces and areas you might enjoy but have not yet visited.

Rental information: Available on-site for 20 yuan per session at the Bronze Gallery entrance. Advance reservation through the official WeChat Mini Program is recommended to avoid queuing.

Experience Two: VR Artifact Conservation Experience (People's Square Branch, Ground Floor)

In this immersive extended-reality experience zone, you take on the role of a "cultural artifact conservator" and enter a virtual world spanning three historical settings, exploring the core essence of traditional Chinese craft and philosophy:

Porcelain workshop: Relive the creative process of blue-and-white porcelain, immersed in the cultural values of master craftsmanship and the custodianship of tradition.
Ancient martial arts arena: Through combat movements and interactions with traditional weapons, engage with the Chinese martial philosophy of balance between strength and suppleness.
Jade palace: Explore the spiritual significance of jade culture — in Chinese culture, jade symbolizes the moral virtues of the gentleman, a spiritual symbol unique to Chinese civilization.

The experience uses the official animated avatar of pop artist Jay Chou as your guide, blending weighty cultural themes with an approachable visual style — enjoyable for visitors of all ages.

Practical information: Tickets are 68 yuan per person; a bundle ticket including the art show and VR experience is 128 yuan per person; total experience time is approximately 45 minutes. Advance reservation through the official WeChat Mini Program is recommended.

Experience Three: Ancient Civilizations Discovery Palace (East Branch, Third Floor)

This interactive space was designed by the Shanghai Museum for younger visitors, covering nearly 1,900 square meters — though adult visitors will find it equally captivating, because it transforms the professional work of archaeology into a hands-on experience anyone can participate in.

Role-play experiences

Junior archaeologist: Work in a simulated excavation trench, clearing soil by hand, uncovering artifact fragments with professional tools, and using artifact-dating instruments — a physical encounter with the patience and precision that real archaeological work demands.
Junior conservator: Take part in simulated artifact assembly and restoration, developing an appreciation for the dual demands of materials science and historical knowledge in conservation work.
Junior curator: Using provided information about a set of artifacts, plan a hypothetical exhibition from scratch — learning to think about how to tell history to the public from a curator's perspective.

Design concept: The Discovery Palace is shaped on the outside like a giant rammed-earth mound — the foundational construction technique of ancient Chinese architecture, and the very layer that archaeologists look for underground to locate ancient building sites. The design itself becomes an archaeological metaphor you can walk inside.

Practical information: Free admission; some interactive activities require advance booking; plan for approximately one hour.

Experience Four: The World Tree VR Immersive Experience (in conjunction with the Americas Exhibition)

To accompany the Americas Exhibition, the museum has launched two VR experience projects that have both won the Lumiere Award for Best VR Application at the 12th Lumiere Awards — one of the most influential professional awards in global XR content.

Project One: Fly Over Machu Picchu — An Inca Journey Above the Clouds

Wearing a VR headset and seated in a 360-degree full-motion haptic chair that tilts and pitches with the imagery, you "fly over" the sweeping peaks of the Andes, plunge into the wild forests at the edge of the Amazon basin, and arrive before the mysterious highland city of Machu Picchu, suspended in cloud at 2,430 metres above sea level. This 15th-century Inca city was rediscovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911 and continues to generate scholarly debate about its purpose and abandonment — its mystery entirely intact.

Project Two: Maya Adventure — A New VR Exploration

Travel back to the Classic Maya period (roughly 250 to 900 AD), move through the tropical rainforest city-states of the Gulf lowlands, witness the ball-game rituals at Chichen Itza (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and explore the workings of the Maya calendar and astronomical observatory. The Maya developed the most sophisticated writing system in the Americas and the most precise astronomical calendar — their calculations of the Venus cycle continue to astonish modern astronomers.

Practical information: After purchasing an Americas Exhibition ticket, reserve your VR experience at the second or third floor of the People's Square Branch. Advance booking via the official Mini Program is recommended. Each project takes approximately 30 minutes.

Experience Five: Shanghai Pass — City-Wide Cultural Pass

On 18 May 2026 — International Museum Day — the Shanghai Museum and the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism jointly launched the "Shanghai Pass," a comprehensive city-wide culture ticket designed for deep cultural exploration and particularly friendly to international visitors.

What the pass includes

The "World Tree: Ancient Civilizations of the Americas" ticket as the anchor benefit
Access to more than 150 cultural and museum venues across the city, including paid exhibitions
Partner discounts and exclusive benefits in commercial districts

Dedicated version for international visitors A dedicated version of the Shanghai Pass has been developed specifically for inbound international visitors. For the latest version information and purchasing details, check the "Shanghai Metropolis Tourist Card" Mini Program or the "Huxiaoyou" app. Price: 299 yuan per set; first batch limited to 5,180 sets; valid from 18 May to 31 December 2026, while supplies last.

Part Five: Museum Shop Highlights

1. Uniqlo UT Collaboration: "Jade Wonders" (Pop-up at East Branch, Third Floor)

In June 2026, the Shanghai Museum's "New Ideas from the Museum: Jade Wonders" UT collaboration with Uniqlo is the latest example of a Chinese museum store partnering with an international fashion brand — and currently one of the most affordable and portable souvenirs the museum offers.

The series draws on seven precious jade pieces from the museum's collection (including a Liangzhu culture jade deity figure and a Liangzhu jade cong vessel decorated with deity-and-beast flying-bird motifs), working with four contemporary artists and illustrators to translate the warmth and auspicious symbolism of jade into a modern graphic language.

Cultural context: the singular status of jade in China Jade — particularly nephrite from Xinjiang's Hetian region and serpentine from Xiuyan in Liaoning — holds a place in Chinese culture that no Western gemstone holds for its own civilization. Confucius matched the physical properties of jade to the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, ritual propriety, wisdom, and integrity, and the phrase "a refined gentleman, warm and lustrous like jade" became the highest ideal of the Chinese scholar's character. The Liangzhu culture jade cong (roughly 5,300 years old) is among the earliest large jade ritual objects found in China, and directly established the sacred status that jade has maintained throughout Chinese civilization ever since. This T-shirt lets you carry that cultural depth home in the most everyday possible form.

2. The World Tree Themed Merchandise

A dedicated merchandise series accompanies the Americas Exhibition, weaving visual elements from the Maya, Olmec, Inca, and other American civilizations together with the museum's own design language — available in clothing, ceramic cups, stationery, and home goods.

Recommended pick: the Corn God shirt The shirt's central motif is the Maya corn creation deity (Hunahpu, also known as the Corn God), with corn-kernel patterns and great green macaw motifs (the macaw is a sacred Maya bird) woven together across the fabric. The shirt was worn by Shanghai Museum Director Chu Xiaobo at the exhibition launch event, generating considerable buzz in cultural circles. In Maya cosmology, corn is the material from which humanity was made — the "Popol Vuh" records explicitly that "the gods fashioned human beings from corn." To wear this shirt is to wear an ancient creation myth.

3. Great Ke Ding Liuli Limited Edition (Shanghai Museum x Boxinliyu)

This limited collector's piece was developed jointly by the Shanghai Museum and liuli glasswork brand Boxinliyu, using the museum's signature vessel, the Great Ke Ding, as its model.

Craft details The production team carried out multiple kiln-firing trials to precisely reproduce two of the Great Ke Ding's signature surface patterns — the taotie mask (the most common beast-face motif on Shang-Zhou bronzes, representing mysterious cosmic forces) and the curved wave pattern (a continuous arc-wave design that is the classic geometric language of bronze decoration). After cutting, grinding, and polishing, the heavy, rough texture of the original bronze has been translated into the clear, luminous language of liuli glass — and the tension between material and form is itself a contemporary artistic statement.

Special recommendation for international visitors: This liuli piece is of a size suitable for carrying as a gift or keeping as an independent art object. For visitors who want to bring home the essence of Chinese bronze civilization in a more meaningful form than a reproduction or a postcard, this is a more considered choice.

4. "Beautiful China" Premium Series (Shanghai Museum x Konica Minolta)

This high-end merchandise series is a collaboration between Konica Minolta and the Shanghai Museum, centering on major pieces from the collection including the Great Ke Ding and the "Lotus Pond with Mandarin Ducks" painting.

Craft highlights The series uses digital 3D hot-stamping and digital 3D UV coating technology to reproduce the three-dimensional texture of artifact surface patterns on book covers and paper products. Running a finger across the cover, the relief of the Great Ke Ding's inscriptions is unmistakably tangible; under raking light, the hot-stamped patterns radiate a deep luster reminiscent of the bronze itself.

For international visitors who love books, print collections, and paper art objects, the "Beautiful China" series offers high-quality souvenirs with both visual and tactile value.

5. The World Tree Shaped Art Card (Bailian x Shanghai Museum)

This is an irregular-shaped card — breaking from the conventional rectangle — modeled after iconic imagery from the ancient American civilizations, jointly issued by the Bailian Group and the Shanghai Museum.

As a payment card, it is usable in Bailian-affiliated shopping malls. But its greater significance lies in this: your Americas Exhibition ticket stub can be converted, during the exhibition period, into a discount card valid in Bailian shopping malls — seamlessly linking the museum experience with Shanghai's urban consumer life. This card embodies the museum's vision of deep integration between culture, commerce, tourism, and exhibitions — the museum no longer as an isolated cultural island, but as an active node circulating through the broader fabric of the city's cultural life.

Part Six: Practical Visitor Guide

Opening Hours and Admission

Branch	Hours	Closed	Permanent galleries
People's Square Branch	9:00 AM – 5:00 PM	Mondays	Free
East Branch	10:00 AM – 6:00 PM	Tuesdays	Free

Special exhibition tickets (Americas Exhibition): Early-bird 120 yuan / Full price 148 yuan / Selected-date 135 yuan / Concessions 74 yuan (students, seniors, etc.)

How to Book

Official channel: Shanghai Museum official WeChat Mini Program (search "Shanghai Museum")
East Branch booking rules: Tickets released daily at noon; bookable up to 14 days in advance; daily capacity capped at 30,000
Best windows for remaining tickets: The evening before between 7:00 and 8:00 PM, the morning of between 7:00 and 8:00 AM, and at noon
Americas Exhibition full-price tickets: On sale from noon on 1 June 2026

Getting There

People's Square Branch

Metro: Line 1, Line 2, or Line 8 to People's Square Station (Exit 1); or Line 14 to Da Shijie Station (Exit 4)
Bus: Routes 123, 112, and 46 to People's Square stop

East Branch

Metro: Line 2 to Century Avenue Station, then roughly 10 minutes on foot (head east along Century Avenue)
Address: 1952 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area
Nearby: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai Library East Branch, Oriental Art Center

Recommended Itineraries

First visit (one full day — East Branch focus)

Morning: Bronze Gallery (60 minutes) — Archaeology of Shanghai (30 minutes) — Jiangnan Crafts (30 minutes) Lunch: Dining options near the East Branch (Century Avenue commercial area) Afternoon: Ceramics Gallery (45 minutes) — Calligraphy Gallery (30 minutes) — Painting Gallery (30 minutes) — "Mountains and Rivers of Jiangnan" Digital Gallery (20 minutes) — Discovery Palace (60 minutes, optional)

Americas Exhibition visit (half day — People's Square Branch)

Step one: Enter through the "cornfield" themed entrance and take in the immersive ambiance of the exhibition prelude space. Step two: "Sacred Time and Space" section (90 minutes) — focus on the Olmec stone head and the Maya stele. Step three: "The Golden Empire" section (60 minutes) — focus on the Machu Picchu artifacts and Inca goldwork. Step four: VR experience zone (30 minutes per project; advance booking recommended). Step five: Browse the merchandise area, which is itself a visual extension of the exhibition.

Two-branch itinerary (two full days)

Day one: Full day at the East Branch, including the AI glasses guided tour. Day two: Morning at the People's Square Branch for the Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery and the Ethnic Minorities Crafts Gallery (permanent, free); afternoon for the full Americas Exhibition experience including VR.

Conclusion: A True Dialogue Between Civilizations

The Shanghai Museum's value lies not only in what it preserves, but in how it chooses to tell the world about those treasures. Here, the Great Ke Ding is no longer a bronze relic to be viewed from a distance — it is a living narrator of history that can converse with you through AI glasses. In the Ceramics Gallery, a Kangxi-period blue-and-white porcelain vase will transmit, through the warmth of touch in your palm, the memory of a craftsman's hands from 300 years ago. And the Olmec stone head and the Maya stele, arrived from the other side of the planet, will meet Chinese civilization for the first time as equals on the banks of the Huangpu River.

This is what a museum should be: not a ranking of civilizations, but a genuine encounter between them.

Welcome to the Shanghai Museum.

Appendix: Contact and Official Information

Item	Information
People's Square Branch address	201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu District, Shanghai
East Branch address	1952 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
Official website	www.shanghaimuseum.net
Booking	Official WeChat Mini Program: search "Shanghai Museum"
Pass purchase	"Shanghai Metropolis Tourist Card" Mini Program / "Huxiaoyou" app