Shanghai (; Chinese: 上海, Shanghainese pronunciation [zɑ̃̀.hɛ́] (listen), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂâŋ.xàɪ] (listen)) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China. The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowing through it. With a population of 24.89 million as of 2021, Shanghai is the most populous urban area in China and the most populous city proper in the world. It is the only city in East Asia with a GDP greater than its corresponding capital. As of 2018, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area, which includes Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Zhoushan, and Huzhou, was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (nominal) of nearly 9.1 trillion RMB ($1.33 trillion). Shanghai has been one of the world's major centers for finance, business and economics, research, education, science and technology, manufacturing, tourism, culture, dining, art, fashion, sports, and transportation, and the Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest container port. In 2019, the Shanghai Pudong International Airport was one of the world's 10 busiest airports by passenger traffic, and one of the two international airports serving the Shanghai metropolitan area, the other one being the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.
Originally a fishing village and market town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to both domestic and foreign trade and its favorable port location. The city was one of five treaty ports forced to open to European trade after the First Opium War. The Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession were subsequently established. The city then flourished, becoming a primary commercial and financial hub of Asia in the 1930s. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the city was the site of the major Battle of Shanghai. After the war, with the communists takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries and the city's global influence declined. Despite this, modern trade in the newly-established People's Republic of China (PRC) began in the late 1940s/early 1950s, and Shanghai officially became one of the biggest and most important cities among socialist states before the economic reform in 1978.
Monday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Tuesday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Wednesday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Thursday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Friday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Saturday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Sunday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Daryl Sinclair | Dec 18, 2017
If you have been in China for a long -period of time or are familiar with exhibitions of Chinese artifacts etc, I would not recommend this museum. It is very good but it is also nothing exceptional. For people who enjoy museums, especially traveling from Europe who may be familiar with these types of displays etc, there is nothing new to see here. I will say that the surrounding area is well worth walking around as you travel towards the people's square. Worth a visit but perhaps only go inside if there is something you are particularly interested in.
Serena Uible | Jan 21, 2018
Got there about 1pm. LONG line but it moves quite quickly. Museum is interesting. So is the architecture. Getting to the museum if you are handicapped -is difficult. We ended you using the steps down and then across under the street and back up more steps. It was difficult. The gift shop looked interesting, but not enough time .... Or energy.
Willem Koenders | Jan 16, 2018
The collections of art are simply amazing. The floors are easy to navigate and the museum is nicely divided in sections. And: it's free! What I missed, though, is a bit of storytelling. Most signs and text read something like "this is a masterpiece of ..." and "this is considered to be top-of-art by ...", but they fail to explain to a foreigner what I am really looking at. So even though I had a good time, I learned very little.
G L Littleton | Jan 14, 2018
It is an outstanding museum. It will be better when all exhibits have the international language on them. I spent 20 hours exploring this vast complex. The Russian "The Wanderers" exhibit was outstanding and I highly recommend it if you can catch it.
Ellen Huang | Jan 23, 2018
Loved this place. There is so much of Chinese history to see. I was fortunate to visit free because it was the opening day of the Egyptian exhibit. The surrounding areas were also nice and green.
Melanie Galuten | Mar 23, 2018
Make sure to enter from where the Dancing Waters are! Also GO EARLY. When we left there was a HUGE line to get in. Great collection: Calligraphy; Bronzes; furniture; Jade; Coins; painting, etc. Nice gift shop with reasonable prices. I got some pearl earrings and a fun umbrella. Nice selection of English books as well. There is a cafe there but it wasn't open. Allow a couple of hours.
MybOy ThaiLand | Mar 21, 2018
Nice and well organised museum. I arrived in early so no need to wait at all. Mostly government museum is free but some need id or passport to identify yourself. I love this place. 😊👍
Huang Wzhong | May 10, 2018
this place is one of the popular well known museum in China, it has huge spacious exhibition area. To gain more enjoyable visiting, it would be better if the person have some prerequisite about Chinese historical background prior, this will be helpful and make a pleasant visiting trip.
Milena Mitic | May 23, 2018
Amazing 11 entrance fee galleries spread over four floors offering an artistic tour with 120,000 precious historical relics such as Chinese bronze, ceramics, paintings, furniture, calligraphy, seals, sculptures, jades, ancient coins...
Gareth Jones | Jul 4, 2018
Closed Mondays (except public holidays) as of January 2018 Excellent museum with a large array of Chinese artifacts dating back over a thousand years. Each exhibit is nicely laid out and there are plenty of English explanations.
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