Wuxi Museum

Wuxi Museum, Wuxi Attractions

Brief Introduction

The Wuxi Museum is a local comprehensive museum featuring local history and art in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China. The city of Wuxi along with other cities along the Yangtze River delta such as Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing have been linguistically separate from the northern part of china for almost 2500 years. Hence this barrier had given rise to their own cultural identity which has been well preserved in the Wuxi Museum.

The Wuxi Museum is located to the south of the Taihu Lake Square and exhibits date back 6000 years and it has a notable collection of Qing dynasty cannons from the pre historic times to the modern Chinese era.

The Wuxi Museum is a compounded museum consisted of the former Wuxi Revolutionary Museum, Wuxi Museum and Wuxi Science Museum. The exhibition area has more than 20,000 exhibits, their details are astonishingly intricate, covering an area of 14,000 square meters. As Wuxi depends on the water of the canal and has profound water culture, construction of the museum emphasizes the water culture, and shows the design concept of "water and stone".

What to See in Wuxi Museum

The Wuxi Museum occupy the area of 14,000 square meters and is honored as the largest public cultural facility in Wuxi. The collections show in this museum such as ceramics, stone and jade articles, gold vessel and silverware, lacquer ware and wooden articles, carvings, painting and calligraphy, embroidery and revolutionary relics, of which over 100 items belonging to Class One Collection are worth watching. The museum also chronicles the history of Wuxi people and the city divided into two sections namely ancient and modern. Being a port city it has always had a strong merchant rather than a political culture. The building itself is in an interesting polygonal shape, is well lit and well maintained. 

The Wuxi museum is rich in paintings and calligraphy from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Wuxi Xubeihong Art Gallery is also located in the museum, with authentic paintings of Xu Beihong collected there. Visitors can visit the museum free of charge except films with special effects and temporary exhibition(s). Group visitors have to make an appointment 3 days in advance. Retired cadres (with retirement certificate), people 70 or above 70 years old (with valid credentials), and mobility-impaired people can have a priority to visit.

You also see finds from the stoneage and later, which are exhibit from the ground floor. Did you know that many scientists say that Wuxi means "no tin". That should be because in the bronce age you had a lot of tin and copper in the ground here but later the tin mines got empty and that should be the reason why the name got changed to "no tin". You can read more about that on wikipedia. I've been asking some of the inhabitants in Wuxi and they say that is not true. Well, I'll see what other chinese scientists say later.

On the second floor they are showing a lot of exhibitions with the trade of silk from these sussoundings. Also about the increase of trade in the last decades of the 19:th century. This where after Qing dynasty reformed the law and made it easier for traders in China by making the old bureaucratic system disappear.

Other things you should see are these teapots in clay. It was actually from the city of Shanghai many ships sailed between Gothenburg and china during the 18:th and 19:th century to Gothenburg carrying, china, spices and fur. 

Travel Guide

Address: No. 100 Zhongshu Road, South Taihu Plaza, Qingyang Road, Nanchang district (near the library)
Tel: 0510-85727600
Admission Fee: Free
Opening Hours: 09:00-17:00, closed on Monday
Recommended Time for Visit: 1-2 Hour

How to get to Wuxi Museum

1. Bus route: Take bus No. 5, 29, 31, 57 and 81 buses and get off at East Road of Jinkuiqiao Canal or Take bus No. 23, 24, 70, 113, 118, 135 and 358 buses and get off at Jinming Road, Wenhua Road stations.
2. Metro route: Take metro line 1 and get off at Qingming Qiao (Qingming Qiao) stop