Unconsciously, we have entered the third year of normalization of the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic, and gradually become accustomed to the days when it is difficult to go out and travel, and the museums around us have become the best comfort for all things.
From the widely acclaimed "National Treasure", to the frequently searched museum cultural creations, and then to the beginning of 2022, the Forbidden City annual pass booking system collapsed, and entering the museum has become a new trend for Chinese people to travel. Data from Ctrip shows that in the first half of 2021, the number of cultural and expo tourists increased by 75% compared with the same period in 2019. It can be said that during the epidemic, the travel preferences of Chinese people are quietly changing.
"National Treasure" tells the past and present lives of cultural relics in the top museums in the United Nations, which has aroused praise © from the "National Treasure" program
According to statistics, by the end of 2020, there are 5452 museum institutions in China. Even if you visit one house a day, it will take at least 15 years to finish. With thousands of museums with different themes, categories, and exhibits, how do you choose the one that's most worth seeing?
The answer must be: a national first-class museum.
The first batch of national museums selected as national first-class museums in the National Museum network
Today, there are 204 top Chinese museums on the list, which are worthy of museum lovers to "step through the threshold", also provide travel inspiration for beginner players, and are the best guide for you to traverse the Chinese terroir.
"Where are the First Class Museums?"
China's evaluation of museum grades began in 2008 and has been conducted four times so far. Among them, the highest honor is the first-class museum, and to obtain this title, the museum must get a high score on a number of indicators, and it cannot be done once and for all.
These "first-class pavilions" are all over the country, so let's take stock.
National first-class museum "punch card" guide © Chinese style objects
The national first-class museums are located in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and Beijing and Shandong are both tied for the top spot with 18 "first-class museums". It is not followed by the cultural relics provinces we remember, such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, etc., but Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
Perhaps this is because the evaluation of the level of the museum is a comprehensive evaluation system, not only does the museum have enough "treasures", but also needs to be in 1) comprehensive management and infrastructure; 2) collection management and scientific research, influence; 3) the comprehensive score of social services in these three aspects has reached more than 800.
Beijing's large comprehensive museum, the Capital Museum Network
Among the 204 "first-class museums", if you talk about the "proud son of the country" and the cultural collection, it is definitely not the "national brand" museum. The 25 "national brand" museums scattered in Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Shaanxi, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hainan and Chongqing often have the super-hard nuclear power to fully display the process of China's specific civilization, are the window to show Chinese history and Chinese civilization to the whole country and even the world, and of course, the best solution for our "blind selection" of museum destinations.
Beijing has come out on top with 10 "national brand" museums, which of course are indispensable to classic museums such as the National Museum of China. The most special are the Three "National Brands" museums of Hangzhou China Knife and Scissors Museum, Hangzhou China Fan Museum and Hangzhou China Umbrella Industry Museum, which are listed as national first-class museums with Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum as the main body.
The Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum Group consists of © Hangzhou Arts and Crafts, Chinese Knives and Scissors, Chinese Umbrellas, and China Fan Museum
However, not all "national brand" museums can be selected as "first-class museums", and the "high threshold" of comprehensive assessment indicators exceeding 800 points has turned many "national brand" museums out. In addition, there are some former first-class museums that unfortunately "fell off the list" and were downgraded, such as the Chinese Naval Museum, which was relegated to the second level in 2013.
If you look at the provincial museum (a museum directly named after the name of the province), in addition to Jiangsu, the provincial museums of the 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government are all first-class museums, which are often the earliest and largest comprehensive museums established in this province, usually have some of the most important collections in this province, and are absolutely top destinations that you must not miss.
But there are exceptions to this naming convention. For example, the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing was approved for establishment in 2000, and then the former Chongqing Municipal Museum was incorporated into it, and the name of the "Chongqing Museum" was added here, which is a typical "one museum and two names".
Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum © on People's Square Figureworm Creative
Jiangsu is more "unique", simply crowned with Nanjing's place name - Nanjing Museum, which has a great relationship with Nanjing's historical status. The predecessor of the Nanjing Museum was the "National Central Museum" founded by the Ministry of Education of the National Government in 1933, and it was also the first modern comprehensive large-scale museum built by the state in China, so this name has also been retained to this day.
Under the epidemic situation, the audience visiting the Nanjing Museum is endless ©
Compared with the first three batches of the "first-class museum" list, the fourth batch of lists released in 2020 has many new faces - industry museums. For example, the China Imperial Examination Museum in Nanjing, the Chinese Ceramics Museum in Jingdezhen, the Qingdao Beer Museum, the China Printing Museum, the China Film Museum, the Beijing Automobile Museum, the Shanghai China Maritime Museum, the Qinghai Tibetan Medicine Culture Museum and so on. The themes of these museums are slightly niche, but they are indeed leaders in their respective fields, and they also show the regional card of a city. If you like to "travel with the museum", visiting these special theme museums may surprise you more.
From top to bottom, it is: Nanjing China Imperial Examination Museum © Tu Worm Creative; Dezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum Network; Qinghai Tibetan Medicine Culture Museum © Official Website
"Secret of the "First Class Pavilion" List"
So, how did these 204 museums stand out from more than 5,000 museums?
The national museum level is the result of the comprehensive evaluation and scoring of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage from various dimensions such as infrastructure, collection management, scientific research, exhibition and social services.
In the early examination papers, the evaluation of the museum level paid more attention to the number of collections and the number of national treasures, and in the "new examination papers", the "examination questions" were also constantly enriched - the soft indicators of youth education, community activities, and scientific research were also included in the evaluation system. This also shows that the museum is gradually paying more attention to the audience's viewing experience and missionary functions.
A children-friendly museum fossil excavation network
Because, the ability to improve public services is a big step for tourists to improve the visiting experience. From the cultural creation of cultural relics, intimate "weight loss" luggage storage points and cafes, to professional 4D theaters and small theaters, "first-class pavilions" mean that you can enjoy more and better services, and there are more abundant and diversified activity spaces, so that visiting the museum is no longer a special journey, it can also enter our daily life and become an important part of intellectual life.
Children explore the magical world © in the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Xinhua News Agency
For example, use the archaeological blind box of the Henan Museum to become a game after dinner for you and your children, replace the lengthy web drama with the sitcom "Knocking on the Door of History" of the Liaoning Provincial Museum, and fill your holiday life with the new exhibition hall of the Hubei Boxin Museum... These are the new options offered to us by the "First Class Pavilion".
The conspicuous national first-class museum logo at the entrance is not only the "golden signboard" of the museum, but also a unique rhyme in the history of the city. An entry into a thousand years is by no means an exaggeration. With heavyweight collections, it is still the most attractive value of the "first-class museum". A collection of handy pieces is enough to take you through time and feel the charm of history. Many "first-class museums" contain China's top "forbidden cultural relics", and these national treasures are representatives of Chinese civilization.
National first-class museum honor network outside the Yunnan Provincial Museum
In addition to important provincial museums, some important city museums also contain their own unique treasures that are lesser known.
At first glance, the fossils and Daqing, the oil city, seem to have no connection, but the Daqing Museum is one of the museums with the largest number and best quality collection of fossils of the Quaternary mammoth woolly rhinoceros fauna in the country and even in the world;
In the rock-like Ordos Museum, deep in the Inner Mongolian grassland, 1900 kilometers away, the fossil skull of The Hetao man is of great significance to explore the evolution of asian paleontology.
Left: Fossil © skulls of Hetao people in the Ordos Museum; Right: Fossils of two mammoth skeletons in the Daqing Museum
However, not all "first-class museums" have the most important cultural relics, which is also the weakness of some science and technology museums and revolutionary museums. In the face of the collection of hundreds of thousands of traditional large pavilions, their "family foundation" is relatively weak. Like the Chinese Naval Museum, the collection is mainly based on used objects, equipment and related documents, and the type is relatively single, so it is downgraded to a second-class museum. But in this particular theme, it is still very worthy of enthusiasts.
With the "golden signboard",
The answer, of course: no.
Even if it is a large museum that has become a national first-class museum early, it is inevitable that it will need to be re-evaluated every year, and if the evaluation results are "unqualified", it will be directly demoted; if it is only "basically qualified" for two consecutive years, it will also need to re-participate in the grading assessment.
There is more than one such "unlucky egg". In 2013, the Beijing Planetarium, the Memorial Hall for The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Chinese Naval Museum and the Overseas Chinese Museum, which were "basically qualified" for two consecutive times, were relegated to the national second-level museum when they failed to meet the requirements when they were re-evaluated.
Among them, the Beijing Planetarium was first selected as a "first-class museum" in 2008, but its strength lies in the popularization of scientific knowledge in a variety of forms, and the collection is jokingly called "in addition to meteorites or meteorites". After two consecutive "basic qualifications" and the re-evaluation was still not passed, it was demoted to a second-level pavilion. Until 2017, after a large-scale digital transformation and upgrade, the planetarium of the "Sixty Birthdays" finally received the birthday gift of "First-class Pavilion" certification. Perhaps for visitors, the immersive experience of walking in the mysterious starry sky in the first dome stereoscopic cosmic theater and 4D theater in the mainland is much more wonderful than the boring "text wall".
At the Beijing Planetarium, you can explore the cosmic starry sky network
These 204 national first-class museums do contain dragons and crouching tigers, which is enough to be the inspiration for your trip to the next city.
The first county-level museum: Qingzhou Museum
Qingzhou Museum is located in the northern foothills of the Yishan Mountains and the Lubei Plain, with an unremarkable appearance, but there are more than 50,000 precious cultural relics, of which more than 3,000 are national precious cultural relics. The Buddhist statue excavated from the site of Longxing Temple, which is a treasure of the Northern Dynasty, is also one of the 100 major archaeological discoveries in China in the 20th century. In addition, there are precious cultural relics such as the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Yi Descendants" Yu Bi and the Ming Zhao Bingzhong Hall Examination Papers, which are worthy of the praise of "the only one in the country and the only one in the world".
Left: Buddhist statue excavated from the site of Longxing Temple; top right: Eastern Han Dynasty "Yi Descendants" Yubi; bottom right: Ming Dynasty Zhao Bingzhongdian Examination Paper © People's Network
Non-state-owned first-class museums: Datang West City Museum, Jianchuan Museum
These two national first-class museums are the "outliers" that are unavoidable, they are both private museums, and they are becoming an emerging force that cannot be ignored in the museum industry. As the first private museum in China to rebuild on the original site, the Datang West City Museum features "Datang West City" and "Silk Road", collecting cultural relics from last week to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and exploring the "prosperous Chang'an" in historical sites.
The Jianchuan Museum, rooted in the ancient town of Anren, is a private museum with the theme of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Strictly speaking, it is a museum group of more than 30 branches of the construction of four series of anti-japanese war, folklore, red age, earthquake relief, relying on personal collections and donations from others, the Jianchuan Museum is scattered with more than 4,000 national precious cultural relics.
Left: Datang West City Museum © Tu Worm Creative; Right: Jianchuan Museum Community © Red Star News
First-class museums in the university: Tsinghua University Art Museum, Shandong University Museum
After the fourth criticism was selected, two museums in universities appeared for the first time on the list of "first-class museums". The Art Museum of Tsinghua University is based on the collection of the former Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, and has an existing collection of more than 20,000 pieces, of which calligraphy and paintings and other cultural relics are of extremely high quality. The clear artistic positioning has created countless "explosive" special exhibitions, and the cultural creation in the museum also has a good standard.
The Shandong University Museum is also based on the excavated cultural relics of the archaeology major on campus, and has become a first-class museum of history and archaeology. The determination of the tomb of the Royal Family and the tomb of the monarch was rated as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China that year, and the bronze ceremonial instruments unearthed here are also well-deserved "treasures of the town hall".
Left: Tsinghua University Art Museum Window 2020 - Exhibition of Images and Archives © during the Epidemic Period The Paper Right: Shandong University Museum © full of cultural relics Shandong University
"A special feature worth punching in", "First Class Pavilion""
Among the 204 "first-class museums", there are 11 more special "national museums jointly built by the central government", which are the "top" among good students. They not only have world-class standards, but more importantly, the regional culture displayed in these museums represents the highest cultural value of Chinese civilization.
Among them, the Shanghai Museum, Nanjing Museum, Hunan Provincial Museum, Henan Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Hubei Provincial Museum, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum are the first batch of central and local museums, while Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum, Capital Museum and Shanxi Museum and other 3 museums are the objects of cultivation.
From top to bottom: Shanghai Museum, Henan Provincial Museum, Shaanxi History Museum © Tu Worm Creative
In addition to these 11 seats, there are also some niche themes "first-class pavilions", which are also quick to read the codes of one party's terroir and humanities, and their exhibition lines are clear and the focus is more prominent. Their existence is the best proof of special resources and terroir culture.
For example, the ceramics of Jingdezhen, the Tibetan medicine of Qinghai, the bronzes of Baoji, the salt industry and dinosaur fossils of Zigong, the coal of Shanxi, the beer of Qingdao, the Han portrait stone of Tengzhou, the Han painting of Nanyang, the statue of Qingzhou, and even the immigrant culture of the Three Gorges, all of which have corresponding "first-class pavilions". These themes either record the original appearance of human life in history, or change the process of civilization in one region, becoming the most conspicuous background of local culture. The museum that matches it naturally becomes the best business card to show the local characteristics. Of course, you can also use these museums as your first stop on your trip, and they may be the best introductory classrooms for you to get to know this hot land.
From top to bottom: Baoji Bronze Museum © Network; Zigong Dinosaur Museum © Tu Worm Creative; Tsingtao Beer Museum © Tu Worm Creative
Among the many first-class museums, nature and science museums that are both informative and interesting are especially suitable as ideal destinations for family-friendly trips. Edutainment is perhaps the goal that parents who come to the museum to walk their babies are most likely to achieve.
The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum has carried out a series of fun science experiment shows, editing courses and hands-on experiences for teenagers of different ages, which can make it easy for children to observe and use their brains while increasing knowledge;
From the earliest horse-drawn carriages, unicycles, famous guide cars in Chinese history, classic cars abroad, to today's cars... The Beijing Automobile Museum has everything, and the "bursting fire" children's driving experience project will definitely make curious babies and car boys unable to walk on their legs. All your questions about cars can be answered here.
The cars dismantled in the Beijing Automobile Museum are suitable for curious babies to find out. © Figureworm creative
In addition, many museums use digital technology to try to present the content of their collections vividly and in a variety of ways. For example, the "Children's Science Park" set up by the China Science and Technology Museum combines exhibitions and interactions to create an independent area for understanding and understanding science. The Dalian Natural History Museum is based on face recognition technology to carry out the interactive talk show Dinosaur Theater, inspired by precious fossil specimens to create the "Parrot-billed Dragon Mother and Child Day" animation, "revitalization" of cultural relics, so that parent-child families harvest full, lingering.
Parent-child visits to museums must not be less than the China Science and Technology Museum network
Nowadays, the epidemic has been going on for a long time, and visiting some museums in the field often eats behind closed doors. Therefore, visiting the museum in Jiayun is also a new choice.
With new digital technologies such as virtual reality, many "first-class museums" have realized the function of online cloud visits to museums. There is no boiling voice around, those fragile "orphans" and cultural relics that are not exhibited for many years can be repeatedly observed in front of the screen and leisurely appreciated.
And like the Forbidden City, the venue architecture is also worth carefully examining the museum, you can get more online. On weekdays, the door is locked, the corner that is not open to the public, you can also switch the panorama and real scene of the Palace Museum online, open the same voice explanation, it is similar to the field tour, and the 3D scan collection in the digital treasure cabinet may not be able to see it for a day.
Looking at cultural relics at home, you must not be unaware of the number of the © Forbidden City
Tourists who have been to Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes know that if you don't buy expensive special cave tickets, you can only see 8 caves on the spot, but online, you have as many as 30 caves to carefully examine.
Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes © can be viewed online for free On the official website of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes
As the "top stream" of the museum class, these 204 national first-class museums will collect the treasures of the Chinese land one by one, so that the oriental culture and charm can be seen at a glance. Whether it is on the ground or in the clouds, the national first-class museum is worth visiting one by one and punching the clock, feeling the history and future flowing in the museum.
Interactive topics in this issue: Which national first-class museums have you punched in, which one is the one you are most impressed with, remember to share it with us
Wen 丨 cookie
Picture editor 丨Xuege
Seal picture 丨 Figure worm creative
This article is original by Huaxia Fengwu, unauthorized, please do not reprint
bibliography:
[1] National Bureau of Statistics, see website: data.stats.gov.cn/easyquery.htm?cn=C01&zb=A0Q08&sj=2020
[2] Editor-in-Chief of the Overseas Edition of people's daily literature and art department, "What you don't know about the national first-class museum", People's Daily Publishing House, 2020.