China Customs Museum

China Customs Museum

Located on Jianguomennei Street in Dongcheng District, Beijing, the Customs Museum is a national-level industry museum directly under the General Administration of Customs. It is the only fully open customs museum in China. With over 1,800 exhibits, the museum systematically showcases the development of China's customs from ancient times to the present.

The most special exhibit in the exhibition area is the "Customs 902" patrol boat, which has a dedicated underground floor for display. It is known as a "hero ship." On January 23, 1992, Deng Xiaoping delivered part of his famous Southern Tour speech while traveling from Shenzhen to Zhuhai on this boat. Many exhibits in the museum are of great historical value. For example, the "Large Dragon Stamp," printed by the Customs in 1878, was the first set of stamps in Chinese history and is listed by the International Bureau of Posts as one of the 73 earliest stamps in the world. The "China Lighthouse Chart," drawn in 1894, shows the distribution of lighthouses along China’s coastline and is the only surviving copy in the country. In addition, the exhibits include precious cultural relics such as bronze swords from the Warring States period, a standing statue of Guanyin from the Song Dynasty, the fossil of Confuciusornis, ivory crafts, a snow leopard specimen, and a Northeast tiger pelt. Furthermore, the museum also provides the first detailed public exposure of smuggling methods used throughout different periods — for instance, in the 1980s, smugglers hid watches inside unripe coconuts, methods that are truly astounding.

Address: No. 2, Jianguomennei Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Type: Museum

Phone: 010-65194318

Opening Hours:

Open daily from 9:00 to 16:30. Ticket sales stop 45 minutes before closing, and entry stops 30 minutes before closing. Closed every Monday.