The Guangdong Museum boasts a collection of over 167,000 pieces covering a range of interests. The current building, located in Zhujiang New Town, was opened on May 18, 2010 and has a display area of 21,000m2. The building was designed to look like a Chinese puzzle box and is home to several permanent collections and also houses three galleries of traveling exhibits which focus on Chinese culture or world culture. Some traveling exhibits require special pay tickets, but these are not common and the museum manages to maintain it's free status with the help of the Guangdong and Chinese government. It can get very crowded on weekends, so if you can visit during the week that's better.
Getting your ticket is a simple matter of showing your passport of China ID card at the front gate, walking up the long ramp to the main doors and presenting the ticket for stamping. Then you're inside the large, echoy chamber hall of the museum. There are some free lockers to the right of the door if you need to store your belongings while visiting, and the visitor's guide area will rent audio tours in English for 30RMB plus a 200RMB deposit. Though most of the exhibits have an English translation as well as Chinese, so this isn't a requirement to enjoyment. Move up the long staircase and then the escalator to the third floor to begin your exploration. The second floor has the small gift shop and the first aid station and can be easily skipped. The third floor has three traveling exhibit halls of which two are always in use while the third may or may not be open depending on if they are changing the exhibit. Two of the exhibits are also about Chinese culture and in the past have included displays of royal court dress, tea production and materials traded during the Qing dynasty with the West. The other exhibit is always about some other world culture and has shared the jade culture of the Maori of New Zealand and tribal sculpture of central Africa with the region. The permanent exhibit of the Duan inkstones is also on this floor and highlights the local craft of producing inkwells used by scholars for hundreds of years. Don't enter the Chaozhou woodcarving hall until you have fully explored this entire floor, as it leads you up to the next floor. The woodcarving display explains the process of making extremely delicate wood carvings from the outside-in and how gold plating is accomplished. A model traditional house of the Qing period divides the space with the most delicate art pieces hidden behind it. Then the stairs lead you up to the middle 3rd floor and the pottery display and some of the larger wood carving pieces. The pottery covers a range of dynasties and includes several rare pieces. The blue-and-white glazed pear-shaped vase with flaring lip and the design of figures is one of only 300 of its kind in the world and the ceramic pillow made in the Yuan dynasty helps historians date the story of "The Journey to the West" (the Monkey King story) to an oral and operatic tradition before being written down in the Ming dynastic period. Up the escalator or steps to the fourth floor and you'll find the two permanent displays of Guangdong culture. Visit the culture display first, as the resources exhibit leads you down and to the exit. The cultural exhibit features the people of the region and starts with Maba Man whose skull was found and has been dated to 128,000 years ago in Quijiang country. Generally, though, the exhibit focuses on more recent history from the Qin and Han dynasties (first of the regional dynasties) and the cultural influx during this period through to the Qing dynasty (last of the regional dynasties). You can also view the champion dragon boat of 2004, a model tea house and a model junk (trading boat). The other exhibit focuses on the natural resources of the Guangdong region including a display of semi-precious gems and herbal medicines grown in this sub-tropical region. Go around the corner and walk through a display of stuffed local fauna that leads to the dinosaur room. Down the back stairs and come out at the feet of a brachiosaurus to staring into the eyes of stegosaurus. Other fossils are on display around the room. Once you leave your back in the main hall and ready to head off on your next adventure. - GZtraveler |
Time needed : 2 -3 hours
Ticket price : Free. Must Show Passport or Chinese ID Opening times : 9 AM - 5 PM (last entry at 4 PM) Closed on Monday How to get there : Take Metro line 3 to Zhujiang metro stop. Exit B1. Cross the street on Left and walk east 2 blocks. (Past the IFC building, and Guangdong Opera House, and across the plaza.) OR Take Metro line APM to Guangdong Opera House stop. Exit and turn south (towards Canton Tower) and walk one block. |