Most first time travellers to China visit the three most popular sites in the country: the Great Wall, the Palace Museum also known as the Forbidden City in Beijing and The Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi in Xi’an. But, as China rapidly emerges as one of the world’s great economic powers, in its wake dozens of splendid new edifices to culture have appeared. Among those of outstanding international quality both in terms of their collections and their displays are the Shanghai Museum (201 Renmin Ave; www.shanghaimuseum.net) and the Nanjing Museum (321 Zhongshan East Road; www.njmuseum.com), both beautiful modern museums with superb collections. However, to experience the hidden China and step off the well-trodden track of both Chinese and foreign tourists, it is well worth visiting some of China’s lesser-known cultural attractions, many of which are quirky or of special interest to particular collectors or hobbyists.

Dare to be adventurous and you will find yourself viewing the burial site of the greatest concentration of Middle Jurassic (180-154 million years ago) dinosaur remains anywhere in the world, or goggling in amazement at a private museum complex comprising more than a dozen separate museums showcasing a selection of over eight million items in connection to two tragic periods of Chinese history – the Cultural Revolution and the War against Japan. China is a vast treasure-house waiting to be discovered by those with a sense of adventure and genuine curiosity for things Chinese. Here is a taste of what lies hidden in and close to, Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu; three of China’s most well-known cities.

Beijing’s Museums

Housed in a former bank building in the old Legation Quarter of the city is the Beijing Police Museum (36 Dongjiaominxiang Lane). In well-lit cases, over three floors are displays covering the history of the Beijing police from its beginnings in 1947. Palace guard uniforms and Qing dynasty police attire mingle with displays of documents and photographs documenting the history of the force including the travails of the police during the Cultural Revolution when many members of the force were persecuted and imprisoned. Once you’ve had your fill of gory images, signed confessions and other relics of criminals and their nemeses, be sure to explore the local neighbourhood, as it is key to understanding China’s domination by foreign powers. After the First Opium War (1840-42) and the Treaty of Nanjing, the Qing government was forced to allow foreigners to create a walled legation quarter in Beijing. The area became an international town within Beijing with its own restaurants, hotels, banks and post offices, as well as the offices of the occupying governments including Britain, France, Japan, Sweden and Russia. Pop in for a bite at Capital M (3/F, No 2 Qianmen Pedestrian Street; + 86 10 6702 2727; www.captial-m-beijing.com ) the newest M venture and one of the coolest restaurants in town, with spectacular views of Tiananmen Square, right up to the entrance of the Forbidden City.

Nearby is another of China’s extraordinary museums – the Beijing Tap Water Museum (Qingshuiyuan, A6 Beidajie Dongzhimen) housed in the original pump house of the Beijing Water Plant. It’s one of the city’s newer technology-based museums offering a compelling narrative of how this vital resource was first delivered to the city and is currently processed, stored, purified and delivered. There is a room devoted to the topical issue of water conservation. The importance of this subject has encouraged the authorities to construct a new museum building nearby to house an additional exhibition space and a lecture hall for conferences and symposia which will open in the very near future.

Chinese ceramic fanciers should visit the Palace Museum’s recently opened Gallery of Ceramics in the Hall of Literary Brilliance (Wenhuadian) displaying 400 highlights of the collection in chronological order from their vast repository of 350,000 ceramics. More fabulous examples of ceramics and bronzes are also shown in museums such as the Beijing Art Museum at Wanshou Temple (Wanshou Temple, Suzhou Street) and the Arthur M Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Beijing University. If you are in the mood to view wall paintings, head west to the Fahai Temple (Moshikou, Shijingshan District). Here at the foot of the Cuiwei Mountain is a Buddhist temple built with funds raised by the Ming dynasty eunuch, Li Tong. He hired the very best painters of the period and the results are stunning. Beautiful Ming dynasty wall paintings grace three facing walls. Painted on prepared clay with mineral pigments in a glue medium, they can be viewed only by torch light. Such conditions of darkness have preserved their colourful, bright paintwork.

By Cathy Giangrande & Miriam Clifford

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