A Glimpse of History

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Museums are considered a looking glass where visitors can actually see what the past was like. The Shanghai Museum is a special window showing 5000 years of Chinese culture! All in one huge building!

It occupies a land area of 0.8 hectares and has a construction space of 38,000 sq. m. with two levels underground and five levels above measuring 29.5 m. in height! The building, itself, is matched with the image of Shanghai's very busy mega-metropolitan. It has a square base, a circular top, and four arch-typed handles erected on the top. This ingeniously puts the traditional feature into a modern architecture.

This museum boasts a collection of 120,000 pieces of cultural relics in twenty-one categories some of which are ceramics, coins, calligraphy, sculpture, etc. One portion I very much admired is the porcelain section. Written at the entrance is "Pottery belongs to mankind, but porcelain is China's invention". I, for one, truely believe this as I gazed in awe at the marvelous works of art!

Not only is the museum a building of history, but also a structure of knowledge! I learned how original porcelain is different from pottery. Note the following aspects: 1. Raw material and ferric proportion are different. 2. The process of making pottery involves less than 10000c while porcelain needs more than 12000c and lastly, 3. Pottery is not glazed whereas porcelain glistens in the presence of light.

While you're there, capture the moment! I had to stop awhile and slowly look at the intricate craftsmanship of a dozen relics! How they're meticulously done may very well leave a question mark in your mind. To witness thousands of years of history, I doubt if even an entire day is enough for a visitor to go around! One thing is for sure...for you to have a good time, have a lot of wonder and patience!

I went there last December to do my Christmas shopping, but at the museum, you can say that, I truely enjoyed window shopping!