The Overseas Chinese Museum is located in Siming South Road of Xiamen. It was opened to public since May of 1959. The construction of the museum was invested by Tan Kah-kee, who is a renowned overseas Chinese entrepreneur, a respected leader of overseas Chinese. The goal of the museum is to explore the experiences of overseas Chinese and track the contributions that they have made to their homeland. Covering an area of more than 3,000 square meters, the main building of the museum displays more than 7000 exhibits.
Why the Overseas Chinese Museum is special
Stories of working overseas in the past few centuries are often those of legend. At the very first, for many who sought their fortune overseas from the 17th to 19th centuries, the experience was often painful. They traveled to every corner of the globe, only to find themselves working in large farms or factories to earn a living. But a lot of them finally rose from the bottom of society as laborers and basic workers, to the middle and upper classes of communities. Here, in the Overseas Chinese Museum about Chinese people overseas, you could know the success stories of such workers.
Overseas Chinese Museum highlights
Located in the feet of the Mount Wulao, and next to the Xiamen University, the museum is a good place to enjoy the beautiful landscape of Xiamen. It has three exhibition halls displaying more than 1200 pieces of pictures and documentation of all sorts, about 2000 pieces of rare cultural relics, and more than 1000 pieces of specimens of various rare birds, beasts and aquatic products. Most of these precious exhibits are donated by overseas Chinese.
There are six exhibitions with different themes, respectively the history of overseas Chinese, tragedies of overseas Chinese before Liberation, friendship between overseas Chinese and the host countries, the contribution of overseas Chinese to their motherland, the past and present of the community of overseas Chinese, Chine’s former and present policies of overseas Chinese.