Shanghai History Museum to Open at New Base in October

THE Shanghai History Museum will open in October as part of the city’s plan to open or begin building a batch of new cultural and sports facilities by the end of the year, the government said yesterday.

The museum, which previously had no permanent site, takes up residence at the former address of the Shanghai Art Museum on Nanjing Road W. and will open from October 1.

The Shanghai Revolution History Museum will be combined with the history museum.

The city’s ancient, modern, contemporary and revolutionary histories will be displayed inside the building, which originally housed a horse-racing club when it was built in 1933, the city’s information office said on its WeChat account.

Currently, the Shanghai History Museum has about 110,000 pieces in its collection, which focuses mainly on the city’s history spanning from the opening of the port in 1843 to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

The collection includes calligraphy, paintings, ceramics, handicrafts and publications.

Shanghai aims to become an “international cultural metropolis” by 2020.

To achieve that goal, the city government will build a batch of world-class facilities for cultural performances and high-end sports.

Six other cultural projects will begin construction by the end of September to improve the offerings of cultural and sports venues in Pudong, the government said.

A 2-square kilometer Expo Culture Park is planned, for which admission will be free, and will incorporate cultural facilities including a grand opera house at the former World Expo 2010 site in Pudong.

The former pavilions of France, Russia, Italy and Luxembourg will be preserved inside the park as part of the city’s Expo memory.

The eastern branches of the Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Library will be built in the Huamu area of Pudong.

The two branches will work in concert with the main site downtown to display China’s ancient cultures and offer various public services.

On the west side of the Huangpu River, the Xujiahui Sports Park which is based on the existing Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai Gymnasium, Shanghai Swimming Pool and Dongya Mansion will become the city’s largest sports venue.

A new art gallery will be built in Gubei in Changning District to be named after and exhibit the artworks of the Chinese calligrapher, painter and cartoonist Cheng Shifa (1921-2007).

The Wanping Theater in Xuhui, built in 1988, will be demolished and rebuilt. A new theater, scheduled to open in 2019, will become the home venue of the Shanghai Opera House and Shanghai Yue Opera House.

Construction will also start by the end of the year on the Shanghai Juvenile and Children’s Library in Putuo District, a professional football field in Pudong with 35,000 seats, an indoor basketball court in Pudong with 10,000 seats for the China Basketball Association and the FIBA, as well as a new citizens’ sports park near the Shanghai Circuit in Jiading District.