Shanghai Museum

The Shanghai Museum has two buildings: one at People's Square and a newer, larger one called Shanghai Museum East. Admission is free at both, but the reservation process and operating hours differ. People's Square location This is the original building, famous for its unique round-top, square-base architecture that symbolizes the ancient Chinese perception of the world. Located at 201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu District. Operating hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on Mondays. Admission: Free, but you must reserve a ticket in advance. Highlights: Collections of ancient Chinese art, including bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, jades, seals, and paintings. It also features special international exhibitions.

The Shanghai Museum at People's Square has limited displays. During my visit, most of the rooms were closed. However, the building itself is quite impressive. I've heard that there are two or three other branches of the Shanghai Museum nearby that feature more interesting exhibits worth exploring. If you are visiting People's Square, a half-hour visit to the museum is sufficient, and there is generally no waiting time to enter. There's no need to buy tickets; our passports serve as admission.

Slightly crowded but good collection of artefacts e.g traditional wear by different ethnic groups in China, exquisitely carved rhinoceros horn cups, wood furniture. There's a few special exhibition too. Spend approx 2hrs.

上海博物馆 (人民广场馆) The museum is spread over 2 buildings, some distance apart. This is the one at Renmin Square. Free to enter but you need to plan early and snatch tickets online in advance. The slots open at 12.10pm thru their WeChat account 2 wks out (recommend going in at 12nn and keep refreshing the page until it opens). All the slots were snapped up within 20 mins or so. Level 1: A special Egyptian themed exhibit split across 3 halls - The Secrets of Saqqara, The Land of Pharoahs and The Age of Tutankhamun. On till 17 Aug 2025. Wasn't my intent to see this, having been to Saqqara before. But this is what the locals are here for hence the tight ticket situation (cause you first need a general entry into the museum). I paid ¥30 for an audio guide, thinking it was for the normal exhibits, only to realise it's just for the Egyptian showcase. As such, I paid another ¥148 for the ticket to the 3 exhibit halls. The audio guide only covered slightly more than half the exhibits, and with the many tour groups and crowds, it would have been more effective if the earphones are noise-cancelling. Level 3 & 4: Free to enter. A hall on Costumes of the Minority Groups in China, another on Ming Qing Furniture and a special exhibit hall on carvings made out of Rhino horns.

Visited in December last year Free for all Booked thru Shanghai museum mini app on wechat..Pick the time slot you want Weekend available slot only about two weeks later. Bring your passport along Beautiful relics.

For a free museum it was OK, and I think if you had an interest in Chinese history and culture, you would obviously get more out of it. There seemed to be a number of closed exhibits on a lot of the floors when I was there, but I am still glad I made the effort. I did have to walk all the way around the building to find the entrance, which is the opposite side to that seen in the photo below. I walked there from Yu Garden which, knowing now what I didn't know then, I'd just grab a taxi.

I went in the wrong side. Managed a quick visit of 30min. Some nice showcase of Chinese history Good to spend 1hr there

The part of the meusem in people's square is now much easier to access with no ticket required since 1st September.