City: Beijing
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What to do and see in Beijing, China: The Best Military Museums
Welcome to a capital city whose story goes back at least 3000 years. In Beijing, you'll find a wealth of history, both ancient (the Hall of Preserving Harmony, Summer Palace, Forbidden City) and more recent (Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Tiananmen Square). For the best market experience, choose the Dirt Market over the touristy Silk Market. A visit to the Great Wall, the longest manmade structure in the world, is absolutely essential.
Restaurants in Beijing
1. Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 51 reviews
Reviewed By Isham1781 - Charlottesville, United States
Well worth the visit. The museum provides a first-rate narrative of the Chinese struggle against Japanese imperialism from the early 1930s through 1945, told from the perspective of the ruling Communist Party of China. That is, the exhibits and explanations portray the party as the main protagonist, sometimes joined by the KMT; the party's leaders, from Mao Zedong on down, are lionized; one main lesson of the struggle is how a weak country, under enlightened leadership and with correct ideology, can defeat a strong one. Japanese atrocities are placed in a special section at the end of the tour, and the effect is powerful. The museum can help the non-Chinese visitor understand how the party today -- and hence, one assumes, many Chinese citizens -- interprets the country's epic, traumatic struggle of many decades ago and why it remains useful for the party to keep alive memories of Japanese imperialism and atrocities.
2. Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 90 reviews
Reviewed By jonascn - Singapore, Singapore
The military museum was renovated recently. Ticket is free but you need to bring along your ID or passport if you are a foreigner to enter. The renovated museum has more air conditioned areas and better lighting. There is a QR code next to each exhibit that you can click to find out more. This museum is a real gem for history bluffs as they kept the all war trophies in the museum. They are also well preserved with detailed descriptors of how they were captured. A few rich war trophies are the T62 tank captured during the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict, American U2 spy plane shot down in 1965, Stalin's ZIS-11 armoured car gift to Mao Zedong in 1949, Japanese Type 97 tank used to parade Tiananmen during Independence Day 1949 and Terracotta warriors from Qin Dynasty. For a history bluff, it will take 3-4 hours to complete the visit. Definitely well worth the visit and one of the most comprehensive and best military museum in Asia, and easily accessible by subway too. The only area to improve is perhaps the disparity between English and Chinese descriptors. Not all exhibits have both Chinese and English descriptors. But the trick is to google or bing the model number of the exhibit and the English descriptor can be found in Wikipedia. It is one way to work around the Chinese text. There are a number of floors in this museum. One advice: If you cannot spare 3-4 hours in this museum, you might just want to focus on level 1(historical planes, ships and cars) and basement 1 (the historical army tank section). The other levels which consist of modern equipment, gun section and paintings are highly forgettable. Reason is cause the modern equipment section are mostly cheap looking replicas (cause there are the latest weapons like drones and fighter jets which are trade secrets), gun section with few descriptors and historical context, and paintings of more propaganda showcase that can also be found in Beijing National Museum.
3. Chinese Military Museum
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 88 reviews
Reviewed By jonascn - Singapore, Singapore
This museum is the same as the Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing. This is a must visit for all history lovers. You will find war trophies that the Chinese captured during the conflicts with the west like the T-62 captured during the Sino-Soviet Border Conflict in 1969 and the Korean War airplanes between 1950 to 1953. I will strongly recommend spending more time on level 1 and basement 1. Reason is cause the higher levels feature modern technology, paintings and small equipment like guns. The modern technology tanks and unmanned aircraft are mostly cheap looking plastic replicas as they are top secret equipments. So this museum is mostly for the love of history. The museum is also highly convenient as it is located next to the Military Museum Station.
