Zhongshan Museum

Zhongshan Museum

Zhongshan Museum is situated in the city center of Zhongshan and is a state-owned prefectural-level comprehensive museum under the administration of the Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication Bureau of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. The museum currently includes: Zhongshan Art Gallery, Zhongshan · China Radio Museum, and Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum. It occupies a site of 700 square meters with a building area of 2,000 square meters. Originally the site of the Qiaoli Public Hospital of Zhongshan County, the building faces south and north and features a courtyard structure that blends Chinese and Western architectural styles, comprising the main building, auxiliary buildings, and a garden (now converted into a sports court). The museum is housed in the former main building of Qiaoli Hospital, which has a "convex" floor plan, is a three-story reinforced concrete structure with white exterior walls and a traditional Chinese green-glazed tile roof. It is the best-preserved modern medical and health-related overseas Chinese building in Zhongshan.

Since its establishment, Zhongshan Museum has carried out cultural relic surveys, collections, and excavations within the Zhongshan area. It has successively discovered cultural remains and artifact sites from the Neolithic Age, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Warring States Period, and Han Dynasty, including the Longxue Site and Baishuijing Site. With approval from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, from December 1990 to January 1991, Zhongshan Museum, together with the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Zhongshan Cultural Relics Management Office, conducted archaeological excavations at the Longxue Site. A number of precious cultural relics were unearthed, including painted pottery, sand-tempered pottery, and stone tools. Among them, painted pottery items such as ring-footed plates and bowls are among the more representative pieces in the Pearl River Delta region, providing valuable physical materials for studying the ancient culture of the area. The museum’s collection mainly consists of locally excavated cultural relics, categorized into pottery, porcelain, bronzeware, calligraphy and paintings by notable figures, and revolutionary relics.

In recent years, the museum has organized and introduced a large number of exhibitions rich in knowledge, thoughtfulness, and interest, such as “Exhibition of Cultural Relics Unearthed in Zhongshan,” “Exhibition of Museum Collection Paintings and Calligraphy,” “Joint Exhibition of Guangdong Ceramic Collections,” “Exhibition of Paintings and Calligraphy Donated by Fang Cheng,” “Exhibition of the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang,” “The Grandeur of the Tang Dynasty – Treasures of Emperor Taizong’s Zhaoling Mausoleum,” “Exhibition of Tribute Items from Guangdong’s Qing Dynasty,” and “Ancient Calls – Dinosaur and Paleontological Fossil Exhibition.” In line with local realities, the museum has actively fulfilled its role as a base for patriotic education by bringing exhibitions to rural areas and schools, earning widespread recognition and praise from society.

Since its establishment in 1984, Zhongshan Museum has held over 200 exhibitions. In addition to hosting them at the main venue, exhibitions have also been toured to various towns and schools. In the past three years, leveraging existing collections, introducing exhibitions, and organizing collaborative displays, the museum has held more than 10 temporary exhibitions annually, attracting a total of approximately 250,000 visitors.

Zhongshan Museum has expanded its collection acquisition channels through various legal means. These include items collected from archaeological surveys and excavations, allocations from the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee, transfers from the Zhongshan Library and Zhongshan– (institution name cut off), as well as donations from organizations and individuals, and purchases from the Guangzhou Cultural Relics Store and private collectors. By the end of 2008, the museum housed a collection of over 8,000 artifacts/sets, primarily historical relics from the Neolithic Age to the late Qing Dynasty unearthed in the city, along with revolutionary relics and overseas Chinese cultural artifacts. Notably, the Neolithic painted pottery items serve as important evidence for studying the ancient history of the Pearl River Delta.

I. Zhongshan Museum and its branch museums are open to the public free of charge. Opening hours are from 9:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday (last entry at 16:30), and the museum is closed on Mondays except for statutory holidays.

II. Reservation time: at least one day in advance.

III. Reservation method: fill in the required information such as the number of visitors, contact person, phone number, and whether an interpreter is needed in the reservation system at least one day before your visit.

IV. Note: If you require an interpretation service, please arrive during the reserved visiting hours. The service will not be reserved if you arrive outside the scheduled time.

V. Detailed inquiry telephone:

Zhongshan Museum 0760-88871131

Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum: 0760-88838581

Zhongshan Comic Art Museum: 0760-88829276

Zhongshan Art Gallery: 0760-88625363

Zhongshan · China Radio Museum: 0760-88873686

Further reading:

· National Third-Class Museum of China