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APR

China Building Museums

While many countries, including Canada, where I currently live, are working to drive up tourism, I doubt that there is any place in Canada that would go as far as China in building not one, but two multimillion dollar museums in less than a decade.

One of the museums, worth $67 million USD, is called the Museum of Chinese Film and fills twenty-one exhibition halls containing posters for war movies and costumes used for early 20th century period pieces. The other is the Beijing Capital Museum, a sleek building with a foyer that is five stories high and includes a full scale copy of one of the cities oldest residential streets.

"The purpose of the museum is to explain Beijing's excellent history and culture and show them to the world," said Peng Xin, a museum spokeswoman.

No doubt this is part of their recent build up to show off the greatness of China to those coming from around the world for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It also has to do with the idea that China needs to focus on its culture and history as they move forward into being a world player in all markets. The government has said that it will open around 300 new institutions over the next ten years to focus on World War II, communism, and China's fifty-five ethnic minorities which will each get their own museum.

Don't think that these museums are the only ones to visit if you are travelling to China, as there are over 1,500 public museums in China currenty, ranging in topics from history, art and music, to tea, and fabrics.

That's right, I said that there is a tea museum. The China National Tea Museum in Hangzhou shows off the most comprehensive collection of modern and ancient tea utensils in China, and an experience not to be missed are the tea performances and tea ceremonies which you can also take part in.

You will not lack interesting and imaginative places to visit in China, even if you only get to hit up some museums.

China launches museum-building frenzy [CNN]

TAGS: museum china landmarks

JAN

10 Wonders Of The New China - The Building Boom With No End In Sight

With China ramping up for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games it's no surprise that Beijing, and China in general, continues to experience what seems like a perpetual building boom. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the world's fastest growing economy either. But building and growing are one thing, and designing breathtaking architectural masterpieces is quite another. There is a new generation of architecture sprouting up in places like Dubai and Kuala Lumpur but it is China that is clearly setting the bar highest from concept to construction.

China will soon be home to the world's largest airport, the world's first fully sustainable city, and the world's highest outdoor observation deck, to name just a few of its innovative architectural feats.

The roster of talent hired to complete projects in these two megacities (Shanghai, Beijing) reads like a Who's Who of star architects: Holland's Rem Koolhaas, Switzerland's Herzog & de Meuron, and Britain's Foster & Partners are all completing buildings scheduled to debut by the time the Olympic torch is lit. But more remarkable than the architects' names are the projects themselves.

10 Wonders Of The New China [Business Week]

TAGS: china architecture olympics beijing landmarks