Shanghai has so many museums it can be hard to know where to start. Time Out track down some unusual alternatives to the big ones.
Opposite the imposing headquarters of Zhonghua Tobacco, the China Tobacco Museum is the largest venue of its kind in the world. A bewildering array of smoking paraphernalia is spread over three floors, though there’s no mention of the fact that China is also a world leader in smoking-related deaths.
Free admission.
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Beneath the National Anthem Memorial Square near to Tilanqiao Prison and the Jewish Refugee Museum (see above), the National Anthem Gallery is dedicated entirely to ‘The March of the Volunteers’. Unsurprisingly, the gallery is filled with nationalistic fervour (in English and Chinese), though there are some genuinely interesting diversions en route such as a small section devoted to American singer and supposed Communist sympathiser Paul Robeson, plus a giant central mural.
Free admission.
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Shanghai Sports Museum might sound like an all-encompassing temple to competitive activity, but it’s actually rather limited to one exchangeable exhibition and a permanent Olympics exhibition. The exhibition currently on display is "Shanghai and the NBA," a tribute to the NBA's presence in Shanghai. The exhibition displays photos, memorabilia, trophies, figurines and more. The cheesy memorial to the Olympics is not much to write home about, apart from maybe the graphic depictions of naked ‘wrestlers’ – but that’s only if you’re really desperate.
Free admission
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China’s first and only glasses museum displays hundreds of different frames and lenses, some of which date all the way back to the Song dynasty (960-1279). Almost everything is in Chinese, but museum worker Miss Tian offers explanations in English as best as she can. Bizarrely, you’ll learn about how some animals see the world: horses, for example, have dichromatic vision which means they see blue and green colours of the spectrum but cannot distinguish red.
Free admission.
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Our guide to the 17 must-see museums in Shanghai
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