Guangzhou Attractions
Home / City Guide / Guangdong / Guangzhou / Attractions / Guangdong Provincial Museum
Guangdong Provincial Museum
Chaozhou Woodcarving: Square Censer Shade
Chaozhou Woodcarving 
Guangdong Provincial Museum
The International Museum Day (May 18) of 2010 is the opening day of the new Guangdong Provincial Museum. It is situated in Zhujiang New Town and can be easily accessed by subway. This is a culture and art square in the new downtown area. The new museum is in the neighborhood of Guangzhou Opera House and Guangzhou Library. Its south side faces the Pearl River. The new museum is a large modern square building, like a 'treasure box of moonlight', which is the name of museum building favored by local people. 

Guangdong Provincial Museum was built in 1959 and is located at 215 Wenming Lu. The museum is a round-topped three-storied building with a hall in the center which is surrounded by corridors. The big yard of Guangdong Provincial Museum was originally the Gongyuan (the imperial examination centre) of Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty  (1644—1911). Inside the yard, there are several national cultural heritage sites, such as the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Nationalist Party (including the Revolution Square), the Red Mansion, the Astronomical Observatory of Zhongshan University and the Lu Xun Memorial Hall.

Canton Style Furniture
Canton Style Furniture
Bronze Wine Vessel, Guangdong Provincial Museum
Bronze Wine Vessel
A new display building with modern facilities was constructed at the end of 1992. This new building covers an area of 13,200 square meters (3.26 acres) and the exhibition hall is about 6000 square meters (1.48 acres). It has thirteen exhibition halls, two procedures rooms and an academic lecture hall. Guangdong Provincial Museum's new display hall considers historic folk, art and nature as its three main exhibition aspects. As one of the three landmarks of cultural facilities in Guangzhou, it plays a very important role in strengthening the international culture communication and developing Guangzhou into a modern international metropolis.

In the past half century along with the urban development of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Museum has fulfilled a resplendent change.

Exhibitions

Celadon Pot in Guangdong Provincial Museum
Celadon Pot
According to official statistics, there are 166,000 items (sets) treasured up here, including 10,000 books and reference materials. Many national treasures can be found in this museum. Large quantity and high quality of Chinese Ceramics and paintings rank the highest of all the museums nationwide. Here, Guangdong relics, gold carvings and inkstones are the most abundant and reflect the local features mostly. Thus, it is spoken highly of by the guests and has a certain reputation at home and abroad.

The original museum had four basic exhibitions, including 'Grand View of Guangdong History', 'Chaozhou Wood Carving', 'Guangdong Rare Animals' and 'Collection of Rare Ancient Coins'. They focus on demonstrating ancient Guangdong history, traditional crafts and rare animal resources.

The new museum will showcases the best collection of each category and top treasures of the museum. The exhibition is divided into History, Art and Nature Sections. Aside from historical relics of the calligraphy, paintings, pottery and porcelain articles, there are ancient animal specimens, some of which are collected from other regions of the world, such as the most beautiful and biggest fossil of sea lily that has ever found in the country, skeleton of pygmy sperm whale, etc. 

The Black Dragon Handscroll by Chen Rong, South Song Dynasty, is the most valuable painting in the museum. The Handscroll is a joining of two large pieces of thin silk with perfect color and luster. Another priceless treasure is a blue-white porcelain ware with human figure patterns of Yuan Dynasty made out of Jingdezhen kiln. Yuan blue white porcelain is rare and many of them are lost to overseas collections. This one in Guangdong Provincial Museum is worth over a hundred million yuan in present antique market. However, it is pricess beyond the number in fact.

Admission Fee: Free of charge, but visitors should draw admission tickets with valid ID certificate at the office on the south side of the main hall.
Opening Hours: 09:00-17:00 (Tuesday-Sunday) 
8:50-16:00 (Time to get tickets)
Bus Routes: Take bus 886, 886A, 293 and get off at Xiancun Lu Nan Station. Then walk about 200 meters to the museum.
Take bus 40, 407 and get off at West Gate of Guangzhou Opera House.
Subway Routes: Take Subway Line 3 and Subway Line 5 and get off at Zhujiang New Town Station. Leave from exit to Guangzhou Opera House. Then walk about ten minutes to the museum. Or take APM Subway Line to Opera House Station and get out from Exit B.

 Guangzhou Bus / Subway Search