There are over 80 museums in Shanghai!
::mind blown:: 🤯 🤯 🤯
They’re spread out all over the city and while I’ve been to A LOT, I definitely haven’t been to ALL of them. However, these right here 👇🏼 are my favorite museums in Shanghai!
8 Must-See Museums in Shanghai
- Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai
- Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre
- YUZ Museum
- Fosun Foundation
- Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum
- HOW Art Museum
- Shanghai Museum
- Shanghai Natural History Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai (MOCA Shanghai)
上海当代艺术博物馆
Address: People’s Park 231 Nanjing Xi Lu
Transportation: 5-minute walk from Peoples Square
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 10am-6pm, Friday-Saturday 9am-7pm
Cost: 50rmb or 200rmb annual membership
www.mocashanghai.org
MOCA Shanghai is located right in the heart of the city in Peoples Park. The first contemporary art museum in China provides a platform for Chinese and international contemporary artists, as well as their new space dedicated to emerging artists.
Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre
上海宣传画艺术中心
Address: B/F, Bldg B, 868 Huashan Lu
Transportation: 20-minute walk from Shanghai Library
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm, Closed Mondays
Cost: 25rmb
www.shanghaipropagandaart.com
Located in the basement of a residential complex, it can be quite hard to find but if you look like a tourist, the security guards will likely point you in the right direction if you don’t speak any Chinese.
When I visited the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre in 2018 there were no pictures allowed inside and they were very strict about this! I took my phone out to respond to a message and the woman working came over to make sure I wasn’t taking a picture. However, I have seen pictures posted inside so either they were taken secretly or they’ve changed the rule.
This basement level is filled with the history of the Communist Party of China from Mao’s ruling up until the present, propaganda posters, pre-war prints from Shanghai, and some folk art.
YUZ Museum
余德耀美术馆
Address: 35 Fenggu Lu
Transportation: 5-minute walk from Yunjin Lu
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 10am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-12am
Cost: Depending on the exhibit 40-100mb
www.yuzmshanghai.org
Previously the hangar of Longhua Airport, the YUZ Museum has kept the original structure of the 9,000+sqm space. This allows for huge international installations to stop in Shanghai and combines rotating contemporary Chinese art exhibits.
Fosun Foundation- Bund Finance Center
复星艺术中心
Address: 5/F, Bldg 1, 558 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu
Transportation: 15-minute walk from Yuyuan Garden
Hours: 11:30am-9:30pm
Cost: 140rmb or 300rmb annual membership
www.fosunfoundation.com
Located on the Bund in the Bund Finance Center, the Fosun Foundation’s exterior is a 3-layered gold harp that rotates with music 4 times a day. Filled with 4-floors of high-quality contemporary interactive art, the Art Center also holds public education events, lectures, forums, workshops, and film screening events.
The Digital Sky Garden sits on the rooftop with 300 digital light numbers flashing from 1 to 9 in different colors at a slow to rapid pace. Created by Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima, these beating numbers symbolize the different personalities and life radiances of all races and cultures.
Tatsuo personally selected 300 citizens in Shanghai to set the beating speed of the digital lights.
Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum
上海犹太难民博物馆
Address: 62 Changyang Lu
Transportation: 10-minute walk from Tilanqiao
Hours: 9am-4pm
Cost: 20rmb, 10rmb for students
www.shhkjrm.com
Unbeknownst to many, Shanghai was a huge port of entry for Jewish refugees seeking sanctuary during World War II. Shanghai received over 25,000 Jewish refugees and is the only metropolis in the world that did not refuse Jews. After the war, many left China and emigrated around the world but because their time was so memorable in Shanghai, they consider the city their second home. They call themselves “Shanghai Jews”.
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue where Jewish refugees gathered for religious activities. The 3-story house has been restored to its original state with red bricks, pillars of the baroque, stone-arched doorways, and original tiles from the time of the Jewish occupation.
The museum holds many scrolls, pictures, decorations, and other cultural relics, as well as the “Name Wall” outside. The name wall is a list of Shanghai Jewish refugees, including their names, sex, and addresses.
HOW Art Museum
昊美术馆网站
Address: No. 1, Lane 2277 Zuchongzhi Lu
Transportation: 10-minute walk from Guanglan Lu
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 1pm-10pm, Saturday-Sunday 10am-10pm
Cost: Depending on the exhibit 30-100mb or annual membership levels of 400, 600, and 1,000rmb
www.howartmuseum.org
Known as Shanghai’s “night museum” for its late hours, HOW is a 3-story building with over 7,000sqm of space. Featuring an impressive contemporary art collection, interactive installations, and Instagram friendly photo opportunities making its audience very millennial 😉
Shanghai Museum
上海博物馆
Address: 201 Renmin Da Dao
Transportation: 5-minute walk from People’s Square
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm, Closed Mondays
Cost: FREE
www.shanghaimuseum.net
The Shanghai Museum is located in the city center near People’s Square. The top is shaped like an ancient Chinese cooking pot, so it’s quite hard to miss! Adjacent to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum, Shanghai Concert Hall, and Shanghai Grand Theatre, it features 11 galleries spread across the 4-story building. Housing historical exhibits of ceramics, porcelain, sculptures, bronzes, paintings, jade, traditional Chinese calligraphy, garments, and furniture from Ming and Qing dynasties.
Audio tours are available in Chinese, English, French, Japanese, German, Korean, Spanish, and Italian. Chinese audio sets for 20rmb and foreign languages audio sets 40rmb. There is a private tour of the Shanghai Museum which you can book here.
Shanghai Natural History Museum
上海自然博物馆
Address: 510 Beijing Xi Lu
Transportation: 15-minute walk from West Nanjing Lu
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm, Closed Mondays
Cost: 30rmb, 25rmb for 60+, 12rmb for students
FREE for people over 70, under 6, active military, and disabled
www.snhm.org.cn
The Shanghai Natural History Museum features a small sculpture park outside but it’s nothing compared to the Shanghai Sculpture Park. Inside features fossils, skeletons, live bugs and amphibians, dino-bots, and loads of educational entertainment with a 4D cinema featuring short nature documentaries.
What’re your favorite museums in Shanghai and around the world? 👇🏼
