Shanghai Postal Museum

Shanghai Postal Museum

The Shanghai Postal Museum is a national AAA-level tourist attraction, a key cultural relic protection unit of China, a science education base, and a patriotism education base.

The Shanghai Postal Museum was designed in 1922 by the Davies, Gilbert & Co. and constructed by the Xin Fengji Construction Company on the former site of Jimi Li (now 1716 North Sichuan Road). It was completed in November 1924 and was once listed as one of the top ten buildings in Shanghai at the time. Located at 276 North Suzhou Road, north end of Sichuan Road Bridge, it was formerly known as the Shanghai General Post Office. It is one of the birthplaces of modern postal services in Shanghai, having gone through various stages under the Customs Post Office and the Qing Dynasty Post Office. After the founding of New China, the development of the people's postal service advanced by leaps and bounds. Following the separation of postal and telecommunications services in 1999, the independently operated Shanghai Post has carried forward its legacy, kept pace with the times, and forged ahead, opening up new horizons for development.

The Shanghai Postal Museum is housed within the Shanghai Post Office Building, a key cultural relic protection unit of China and an outstanding architectural landmark of Shanghai. Using detailed historical materials and artifacts, along with modern technology, it traces the origin and development of postal services. It documents the contributions of the early postal party organization in leading workers’ movements and revolutionary predecessors in the founding of New China, records the dedicated efforts of model workers in the postal industry, displays various postal and mail transport tools, introduces postal services (businesses) and their evolution, and showcases stamps rich in cultural heritage. The Shanghai Postal Museum integrates ideological, scientific, educational, contemporary, entertaining, and interactive elements. It serves as a classroom for revolutionary tradition education, a platform for promoting advanced culture, a channel for publicizing postal service concepts and products, an educational base for youth to learn scientific knowledge, a tourist attraction for domestic and international visitors, and a showcase of the Shanghai Post’s excellence.

Upon entering the museum gates, you will see the name “Shanghai Postal Museum” inscribed by Mr. –. Turning left into the foyer, the exhibition area displays a statue of Zhu Xuefan, the first Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of New China. Passing through the foyer, you reach the Origin and Development exhibition area. As early as the Shang Dynasty, people communicated by beating drums. In the display case to the left are oracle bone inscriptions recording the practice of drum signaling to announce military intelligence from afar during that period. A few steps further, you will see clay seals used in the Han and Tang Dynasties to prevent tampering with official documents, as well as vivid pictorial bricks depicting courier stations that illustrate the scene of postal relay communication. In front of the courier station bricks is a beacon communication display platform featuring a mini multimedia show. Ancient beacon towers were military facilities for coastal defense, where fires were lit to send alerts in emergencies. Approaching the beacon tower display, you first see a daytime scene of ancient southern coastal beacon towers. Press the start button, and the background lights dim to create a nighttime atmosphere. Then, the beacon towers in the display box light up one by one from far to near, recreating the process of night beacon communication in ancient times.

Along the way, you can also see the memorial presented to Emperor Guangxu on March 20, 1896, approving the establishment of a state postal system. This day later became China Post’s founding anniversary. Not far from the memorial display case is a postbox inscribed with the words “Great Qing Post Office,” featuring a majestic coiled dragon. This exhibition area also features a 1:100 scale model of the Shanghai Post Office Building, completed in 1924. Adjacent to the model is the Postmaster’s Office, where a wax figure of the postmaster uses a telescope to observe the arrival of mail along the Bund.

In the second exhibition area — the Network and Technology zone — you will see a huge diagram of the distribution of postal branches in downtown Shanghai created using photoelectric technology. The number of self-operated postal service outlets in Shanghai increased from 30 in 1911 to 584 by 2003, reflecting the rapid development of the postal service. A few steps further, a massive snow mountain scene makes you feel as if you are in the polar regions. You might not expect that even these remote polar areas bear the footprint of Shanghai Post. Here you can see the postmark used by the first postmaster of the Great Wall Station in Antarctica, commemorative envelopes marking arrival days, and operational materials from the Snow Dragon postal branch — all valuable exhibits. Additionally, the RFID mail sorting prototype in this zone is a product of high technology, demonstrating the mail sorting process. This model is based on the cross-belt sorter developed for the Pudong Mail Processing Center, capable of handling 100,000 pieces of mail per day. The exhibition area also displays a range of postal equipment such as various electronic postage meters, different types of postal scales, and mailboxes from various countries.

Letters convey emotions between people. In the Business and Culture exhibition area, you can view mailed envelopes from different periods, such as those sealed with sealing wax from the Republican era and those featuring Mao Zedong quotes from the Cultural Revolution. Around the corner, you’ll find handwritten letters from celebrities like Ba Jin and Guo Moruo. Visitors can also learn about the development of postal services and their deep cultural roots through photos and physical exhibits related to postal publication distribution, remittance savings, and financial services.

In the Stamps and Philately exhibition area, visitors can get up close with precious stamps. A video short playing in the area tells the story of the birth of the Penny Black in a lively and fun puppet show format. Moreover, you can see a used Penny Black stamp bearing the Maltese Cross cancellation mark. Next to it, an exhibit case displays the first set of stamps issued by China in 1878 — the Large Dragon stamps. Notably, these two display cases use concave mirror technology to create optical illusions of the stamps in 3D, making them appear vividly three-dimensional to the eye, yet intangible to the touch. Adjacent to these cases is a panel showcasing the first stamps issued by countries around the world (top 50). The panel details basic information such as issue date, issuing country or region, and face value of the first 50 stamps. There are also display boxes featuring various special stamps from around the world. In the specially shaped stamps box, you’ll find France’s heart-shaped stamps and China’s triangular stamps. The special material stamps box displays Poland’s silk stamps and Switzerland’s wooden stamps. Meanwhile, the special printing technique stamps box features Switzerland’s chocolate-scented stamps.

The Stamps and Philately exhibition area also highlights stamps from the Qing Dynasty Customs Post Office, including rare pieces like the Small Dragon stamps and the Longevity stamps issued for Empress Dowager Cixi’s 60th birthday, as well as stamps from the Qing Post, the Republic of China Post, the Liberation Area Post, and the New China Post.

At the end of the entire exhibition area is the Treasure Stamp Hall, which displays legendary stamps associated with major historical events during their creation, discovery, or circulation (such as stamps marked with “Provisional Neutrality”), or unique and extremely rare items due to short issuance periods, natural wear, or accidental damage. The first display case contains the “Green-robed Red Bride,” arguably the museum’s crown jewel, with only 10 known surviving copies, whose market price has ranked the highest among single Chinese stamps this century.

After visiting the four exhibition areas on the second floor, you can head to the atrium of the ground floor of the Postal Museum. In the bright and spacious atrium stands a horse-drawn carriage model labeled “Great Qing Post Office Shanghai Bureau.” To the right is a full-scale model of the first postal delivery vehicle purchased in 1917. At the other end of the atrium, a dark green airplane model used on Shanghai’s first scheduled airmail route hangs in the air. At the atrium exit, the “Postal Future” dome theater uses surround-screen projection and edge-blending technologies to present the theme of the future of postal services, immersing you in this 3D film showcasing tomorrow’s postal world. If you’re interested, staff can take your photo with a digital camera and use digital compositing to blend your image with characters in the film. You may just become a character in the future postal movie.

Take the elevator directly to the fifth floor, where the rooftop garden of the post office building awaits. From the rooftop garden, you can admire the Baroque-style clock tower, flanked by sculptures — one group depicts three figures holding models of a train engine, a ship, and a telecommunication cable, symbolizing the development of transportation and communication; the other group features the Greek mythological gods of communication and love, symbolizing the post as a messenger connecting human emotions. Here, you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Suzhou River and both banks of the Huangpu River from the observation deck.

Address: 395 Tian Tong Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai

Type: Museum

Recommended Visit Duration: 1–2 hours

Phone: 021-63936666

Opening Hours:

Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 9:00–17:00; last entry at 16:00.

Ticket Information:

Free admission.

Transportation:

Buses: Routes 17, 21, 19, 25, 65, 220, 939

Take Metro Line 10 to Tian Tong Road Station; the museum is about a 5-minute walk away.

Information Source: Hongkou District People’s Government