Guangzhou Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum

Guangzhou Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum

The Guangzhou Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum is a national AAA-level tourist attraction, a cultural tourism site, and a patriotic education base.

The Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum is located at No. 1688, Guangzhou Avenue South, Haizhu District, Guangzhou. It is currently the only museum in Guangzhou established by a time-honored brand and also the first of its kind in the Lingnan region dedicated to the traditional Chinese medicine industry. Here, a large number of lifelike wax figures simulate and recreate the pharmaceutical manufacturing process. As a living fossil of 400 years of traditional Chinese medicine, the Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum primarily uses scene reconstructions to showcase traditional Chinese medicine craftsmanship to visitors.

The Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum is situated within the Chen Li Ji Pharmaceutical Factory. Upon entering the museum through its old wooden door, you are welcomed by a seated traditional doctor and a young lady with braided hair right at the entrance, with an old-fashioned fan placed on the prescription desk. In the front, the “old shopkeeper,” with a prescription in his right hand and abacus beads in his left, strikes a remarkably lifelike pose. Ascending to the second floor, the “staff member” beside the ginger-frying pan, stirring the ginger and puffing out his cheeks to blow the fire, along with others, are all high-cost creations made from advanced high-polymer polyester. It’s hard not to be curious and touch these hyper-realistic figures—their appearance, physique, expressions, and even the tactile feel are strikingly human-like. Inside the museum, the eight procedures of wax boiling, wax dissolving, atom stringing, wax dipping, pill filling, sealing, stem cutting, and stamping demonstrate the wax-shell packaging technique pioneered by Chen Li Ji.

The history of Chen Li Ji predates the famous Tong Ren Tang by 69 years. The “Chen Li Ji Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum” is the first of its kind in the Lingnan region, established by the Guangzhou Chen Li Ji Pharmaceutical Factory, a time-honored brand with over 400 years of history and the longest-standing pharmacy in China. The museum focuses on traditional Chinese medicine production techniques, using scene reconstructions as the main display method, supplemented by various advanced demonstration techniques to present the history and craftsmanship of traditional Chinese medicine, especially the profound cultural heritage of “southern herbs.”

One of the museum’s standout features is its highly realistic scenes. The 20 wax figures inside the museum are all high-quality replicas custom-made in Xi’an in 2003. To achieve an authentic effect, even the hair and teeth are real, with each wax figure costing up to 50,000 yuan. The medicinal boiling pots emit steam, and the herbal frying pans produce the sound of stirring, immersing visitors in the experience.

Address: No. 1688, Guangzhou Avenue South, Guangzhou

Opening Hours: Every Saturday and Sunday, 9:00–11:30 & 14:00–16:00

Tel: 020-84217418

Admission: Free

Transportation: Buses No. 51, 51A, 87, 88, 882, etc., or take Metro Line 2 Extension.