Central China (华中) · 17 museums · 3 provinces
17 museums in Central China, grouped by province. 13 of them are closed on Monday. The last column also says whether entry is free and whether a booking is needed.
Most common here: General collection (5), Single-subject museum (4), Site or tomb museum (3). See all regions, or the background on museums.
7 museums
Henan (河南省)
| Museum | City | Getting in |
|---|---|---|
| National Museum of Chinese Writing (中国文字博物馆)The first museum devoted to writing itself, tracing the script from oracle bone through bronze inscription, seal, clerical, regular, running and cursive, and covering the writing systems of other peoples in China. | Anyang | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Yinxu Museum (安阳殷墟博物馆)The late Shang capital, occupied from about 1300 to 1046 BC, and the earliest Chinese city confirmed by both texts and excavation. The new museum opened in 2024 with 4,000 objects; 150,000 oracle bones have come out of the site. | Anyang | Ticketed · book ahead |
| Erlitou Site Museum of the Xia Capital (二里头夏都遗址博物馆)The Erlitou site, occupied between about 1800 and 1500 BC, is the earliest broad state-level settlement found in China. The museum opened beside it in 2019; the turquoise dragon shown here is a copy, the original being in Beijing. | Luoyang | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Longmen Grottoes Museum (洛阳龙门石窟博物馆)Carving at Longmen began in 493, when the Northern Wei moved their capital to Luoyang, and continued for 400 years: 2,345 niches, over 100,000 figures, 2,800 inscriptions. The Vairocana Buddha of Fengxian Temple stands 17 m. | Luoyang | Ticketed |
| Luoyang Museum (洛阳博物馆)Luoyang was the capital of thirteen dynasties, and the 400,000-object collection is organised around that: Xia and Shang bronzes, Tang sancai, and stone carving. The Erlitou bronze jue is the earliest Chinese bronze wine vessel. | Luoyang | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Nanyang Han Stone Relief Museum (南阳汉画馆)Founded in 1935, the first museum of Han carved stone and still recorded as the largest, with over 2,000 slabs. The subjects are everyday ones: banquets, hunts, acrobatics, and the earliest known images of Chang’e and of Houyi shooting the suns. | Nanyang | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Henan Museum (河南博物院)Henan sat at the centre of several early dynasties, and the 170,000-object collection here is the standing case for that. The museum singles out nine pieces as its core holdings. Sixteen galleries run in sequence from room one. | Zhengzhou | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
5 museums
Hubei (湖北省)
| Museum | City | Getting in |
|---|---|---|
| Jingzhou Museum (荆州博物馆)Jingzhou was the Chu capital, and this is the strongest prefecture-level collection in the country: 130,000 items, with lacquer, silk and bamboo slips preserved by waterlogged tombs. A sword of King Zhougou of Yue is here. | Jingzhou | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Hubei Provincial Museum (湖北省博物馆)Holds two objects people come specifically to see: the sword of Goujian, king of Yue, unrusted after 2,500 years, and the 65-bell set from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. Chime performances run several times a day. | Wuhan | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Wuchang Uprising Memorial Hall of Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命武昌起义纪念馆)The Hubei provincial assembly building of 1910, known as the Red Building, where the military government was declared after the uprising of 10 October 1911 that ended two thousand years of imperial rule. Free on ID, no booking. | Wuhan | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Wuhan Revolution Museum (武汉革命博物馆)A group of sites along the Wuchang lane known as Honghang: the Peasant Movement Institute where Mao taught, his former residence, and the hall where the Party held its fifth congress in 1927. | Wuhan | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Zhongshan Warship Museum (武汉中山舰博物馆)The gunboat Yongfeng, ordered from Japan in 1910 and renamed for Sun Yat-sen after it sheltered him in 1922. Sunk by Japanese aircraft near Wuhan in 1938, raised whole in 1997, and on display since 2011. | Wuhan | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
5 museums
Hunan (湖南省)
| Museum | City | Getting in |
|---|---|---|
| Changsha Jiandu Museum (长沙简牍博物馆)The first museum devoted to bamboo and wooden slips, the writing material used before paper. Shows 366 sets from the Warring States to the Wei-Jin period, including the Wu-period slips found at Zoumalou in 1996, mostly administrative records of ordinary days. | Changsha | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Hunan Museum (湖南博物院)Built around the Mawangdui tombs, excavated between 1972 and 1974: the body of Lady Xin Zhui, a plain silk gown weighing 49 grams, a painted funeral banner, lacquer, and silk manuscripts. 180,000 items in all. | Changsha | Free · book ahead · closed Mon |
| Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memorial Museum (韶山毛泽东同志纪念馆)The village where Mao Zedong was born in 1893 and grew up: the family house, a memorial hall, and a separate building holding some 6,000 of his personal effects. | Xiangtan | Free · book ahead |
| Fenghuang Ancient Town Museum (凤凰古城博物馆)Inside the Qing circuit intendant’s yamen in Fenghuang, built around the Chen Baozhen family, four generations of officials and scholars from this town. Shen Congwen, Huang Yongyu and Xiong Xiling also came from here. | Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture | Ticketed |
| Xiangxi Museum (湘西州博物馆)The collection for Tujia and Miao western Hunan: Miao silver headdresses weighing one to three kilograms, Tujia xilankapu brocade, drums, and models of stilt houses. The prefecture’s intangible heritage is the organising idea. | Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture | Free · closed Mon |
Getting In
Most of these are free and most of them want a booking, made on a Chinese platform a day or several ahead, and the good ones sell out in the school holidays. Tell our local team which cities you will be in and they will handle the bookings and say which halls are worth the time.