Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum

Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum

The Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum serves as both a science education base and a patriotic education base.

The Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum is a thematic museum mainly focused on exhibiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site—the Great Wall of China—and spreading Chinese Great Wall culture. The museum features a wide range of cultural relics, including stone tools, pottery, porcelain, bronzeware, jade artifacts, currency, and steles, with a particular emphasis on Great Wall construction materials and ancient weapons. Its collection includes numerous fine and unique items.

Located along the mid-section of Tianxia Diyi Guan Road in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao City, the Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum covers an area of 1.21 hectares. The building features a classical style modeled after Ming and Qing architecture. Its establishment was initiated following Deng Xiaoping’s 1984 call to “Love our China, repair our Great Wall.” The museum was completed and opened to the public on July 1, 1991, with its name inscribed by Li Xiannian, then President of China.

In 2004, as a key project of Hebei Province’s patriotic education bases and a flagship initiative under the “Shanhaiguan Ancient City Conservation and Development” project, the Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum underwent renovation. It reopened to the public on October 1 of the same year. The museum has a total construction area of 2,600 square meters, with an exhibition space of 1,600 square meters spread across eight exhibition halls. It was designated as a Qinhuangdao Municipal Patriotic Education Base and a Key Provincial Museum in Hebei in 1995, elevated to a Hebei Provincial Patriotic Education Base in 2005, awarded the title of “National Patriotic Education Demonstration Base” by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in 2009, and rated as a National Second-Class Museum in the same year.

In 2006, to further enhance the Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum's roles in patriotic and social education, a second-phase expansion project was launched with support from central, provincial, and local governments. Construction began in October 2007, with new sections integrated seamlessly with the original structure, creating a perfect blend of classical and modern design.

The museum received a total investment of 55 million yuan, with a building area of 6,230 square meters and an exhibition area of 3,600 square meters, featuring an exhibition line stretching 1,500 linear meters. It is divided into eight sections: “History of the Great Wall,” “Architecture of the Great Wall,” “Economic and Cultural Aspects of the Great Wall,” “The Great Wall Today,” “Spring and Autumn of the Dragon’s Head,” “Military Significance of the Strategic Pass,” “Cultural Heritage of the Famous Pass,” and “Radiance of the Dragon’s Pearl.” With exquisite design, thoughtful layout, grand momentum, and rich content, the museum serves as a base for historical and cultural display, patriotic education, and youth science popularization. It is the ideal place to learn about the Great Wall, promote its culture, and understand its spirit.

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China