The Ningbo Museum (Níngbō Bówùguǎn, 宁波博物馆) is one of the best places in Ningbo to discover the city's past. Exhibits chronical the region's history as far back as the Neolithic period and into the early 20th century. Permanent cultural exhibits are also on display as well as a gallery that features rotating exhibits on loan from other museums that have included paintings, pottery, sculpture and more.

On permanent display, the Ningbo History Gallery is bookended by exhibits on the Neolithic Hemudu culture and a walk-through recreation of Ningbo's waterside during the early 20th century with artifacts, paintings, pictures and replicas in between detailing the lengthy history covered by the museum. It also has artifacts on display discovered during the excavation of the underground portion of Tianfeng Pagoda in 1984. Providing insight into the lives of Ningbo's people, the Folk Customs Gallery explores traditional food, activities and culture and features a life-sized old city street.

In building the museum, the Hangzhou architecture studio in charge sought to retain a measure of traditional character in their modern structure, which sits amidst high-rise buildings in Ningbo's Yinzhou district.

So, though the museum's sides rise outward from the base in a stark, modern style, they are clad in an assortment of tiles and bricks recovered from farmhouses demolished to make room for surrounding government and office buildings, and entering the museum, you walk beside a stylized canal that runs along the path, reminiscent of the walled riverside of a Chinese town.

Zhejiang guide | Ningbo guide | Ningbo attractions | Ningbo flights
Ningbo hotels | Ningbo on the China Travel Blog