Capital Museum locates at the west extension of Chang'an Avenue, in Xicheng District of Beijing. Opening in October, 1981, Capital Museum covers an area of 24,832 square meters, and has five floors above ground and two floors underground. With splendid architectures, various exhibitions, advanced technology and multifunctional facilities, Capital Museum is regarded as one of the first "State First-class Museums" in 2008.
History of Capital Museum
The initial construction project of Capital Museum began in 1953, and it was formally open to the public in 1981. The original site of the museum locates in the Confucian Temple, along the Guozijian Street. In order to accommodate more collections and better service to the visitors, the museum applied to move to a new site in 1999, and finally was approved by Beijing Municipal Government. The new site of Capital Museum was built in December, 2001 and opened on May 18th, 2006.
Exhibits of Capital Museum
Capital Museum is a state-run museum where houses nearly 200,000 valuable historical relics unearthed in Beijing, including stoneware, bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy works, paintings, jade ware, and ancient coins. Some of them enjoy a high reputation both at home and abroad. The museum is committed to displaying the 500,000 years’ history of human settlement in Beijing, 3,000 years’ urban history and 800 years’ history as the capital of China.
Most of the collections are unearthed after 1949, and some cultural relics can be even dated back to the New Stone Age. Most of the objects on display were unearthed in Beijing by archeologists, or donated by local citizens.
The permanent "Brief History of Beijing" exhibition traces the 3,000-year history of Beijing with a display of more than 1,000 objects. The three temporary exhibition rooms are often used to hold the first-class objects from China and other countries. They help to reflect Beijing’s inclusiveness to different cultures around the world, and the uniformity and the diversity of humanity's historical and cultural development.
At the same time, Capital Museum is also responsible for the collection, restoration, research and preservation work of the historical and cultural heritage of Beijing. It is an important platform of cultural exchange and communications between Beijing and the whole world.