Capital Museum
The premier museum of Beijing's local history: the permanent exhibitions “Ancient Capital Beijing: History and Culture” and “Folk Customs of Old Beijing” systematically present the city's 3,000-year history and its more than 860 years as a capital; highlights include the Yuan dynasty blue-and-white flask (unearthed at the Yuan capital Dadu) and the Qianlong imperial stele, and the bronze ware and Buddhist statue collecti…
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 09:00-17:00 (closed Mondays)
- Ticket
- Free (reservation required)
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
The premier museum of Beijing's local history: the permanent exhibitions “Ancient Capital Beijing: History and Culture” and “Folk Customs of Old Beijing” systematically present the city's 3,000-year history and its more than 860 years as a capital; highlights include the Yuan dynasty blue-and-white flask (unearthed at the Yuan capital Dadu) and the Qianlong imperial stele, and its bronzes and Buddhist statues are superbly collected. The building's form — a bronze ding with a cantilevered “cradle” — symbolizes “holding up the future out of history”. Free with reservation, closed Mondays; recommended as the first stop to frame Beijing's history — a visit to the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) afterwards will be twice as rewarding.
Getting there: Metro Line 1, Muxidi Station
Photos
More in Beijing
- Summer Palace
Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor and Marble Boat of the imperial resort.
- The Forbidden City
The world's largest palace complex, 9,999 rooms of Ming and Qing emperors.
- Mutianyu Great Wall
The restored, less-crowded Great Wall section with a toboggan descent.
- Temple of Heaven
Where emperors prayed for harvest; morning tai chi in the cypress park.
- Tiananmen Square
One of the world's largest city squares, about 880 m long north to south and able to hold a million people—the core space of Beijing's Central Axis: the founding ceremony of the PRC was held here on October 1, 1949; the Monument to the People's Heroes stands at the center, the Great Hall of the People on the west, and on the east the China...
- The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
Completed in the 18th year of Ming Yongle (1420), the imperial palace where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and ruled, formerly the Forbidden City: covering 720,000 sq m with over 8,700 rooms, the world's largest and best-preserved wooden palace complex