Beijing Capital Museum Tour

The Capital Museum, located at 16 Fuxingmenwai Dajie, Xicheng District, west extension of Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District, opened in 1981 while the present building was built in the late 90s.

The Capital Museum today contains over 200,000 cultural relics in its collection, only a small fraction of it are exhibited, and a significant percentage of the museum's art collection came from artifacts unearthed in Beijing.

The Capital Museum was established in 1981 with a collection of some 83,000 objects. Although initially the Museum pales in comparison to the visitors received in other major art museums in Beijing, such as the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China and the National Art Museum of China; it has since then became one of the leading cultural institutions in the city, with the first five months of 2007 receiving more than 166,000 visitors.

The present Capital Museum's building's massive roof and the gradient at the entrance square was influenced by the design from ancient Chinese architecture, and the stone-made exterior wall was meant to symbolize imagery of the city walls and towers in ancient China. A piece of danbi (a massive stone carved with images of dragon, phoenix and imperial artifacts) is embedded on the ground in front of the north gate of the museum, whereas a decorative archway from the Ming Dynasty is set in the reception hall in which shows the "central axis" feature that are commonly seen in Chinese architecture. The Bronze Exhibition Hall, which has an oval-shape, was also meant to symbolize the unearthing of ancient relics by its slanting design in which extends from the ground to the exterior of the museum.

Collections in the Capital Museum

The main display includes exhibitions on Beijing history, building construction and on Beijing folk customs. It occupies seven exhibition halls in both main and the oval exhibition halls. Porcelain wares, bronzes, calligraphy works, paintings, jades, Buddha status, exquisite artworks in study room, and folklore of old Beijing are displayed.

• Collection of ancient Chinaware
• Collection of ancient Beijing bronze art
• Collection of ancient calligraphy
• Collection of ancient paintings
• Collection of ancient jade ware
• Collection of ancient sculptures and Buddhist status
• Collection of gadgets of studies

Location: 16 Fuxingmenwai Dajie, Xicheng District
Opening Hours: 09:00 – 17:00

How to get there

Subway: Take subway line 1 and get off at Muxidi Station
Buses:

1. Take bus no. 1, 52, 205 or 728 and get off at Gonghui Building Station
2. Take bus no. 37 and get off at Sanlihe East Road South Mouth Station
3. Take bus no. 26, 45, 114, 308, 650 or 937 and get off at Baiyun Road Station

Weather/Best Time to Go

Beijing enjoys four distinctive seasons owning to its humid continental climate, ranging from very warm during the summer: 28ºC to 38ºC (82ºF to 93ºF), to chilly and dry during the winter: -10ºC to 10ºC (14ºF to 50ºF).

All of the year is suitable for your Beijing Water Cube tour. A sunny day is much better, so forecast Beijing weather of your tour.

Travel Tips

• Visitors for the special exhibitions may purchase tickets directly from box office in the main lobby.
• You have to reserve 3 days in advance for your visit, because the number of tourists is limited less than 4,000.
• For more information, please visit the official website: http://www.capitalmuseum.org.cn/en/index.htm.