Chaozhou Museum 潮州市博物馆

About Chaozhou Museum

Its Chaozhou Overseas Chinese History exhibition uses miniature settings and multimedia alongside objects carried or collected by emigrant families. Old abacuses, tea utensils and carved wooden pieces connect the larger story of departure and return with familiar household routines. Follow the exhibition’s movement from origins to cultural identity and homecoming, rather than treating the displays as a list of famous overseas residents.

The museum traces its history to the Chao'an County Museum, founded in 1959 at Haiyang Xuegong (海阳学宫). It suspended operations between 1966 and 1973, then resumed relic displays in 1973 at Chaozhou's Kaiyuan Temple (开元寺) and became an independent institution in 1977. It split in 1980 into a separate Chaozhou City Museum at Hanbi Lou (涵碧楼); the two merged back into the Chaozhou Museum in 1983, based again at Haiyang Xuegong. A new building at the southwest corner of People's Square opened in 2010, and the museum was named a second-batch national second-level museum in 2013.

The museum building combines a circular main structure with a square annex, with reception and visitor services on the ground floor. The second floor holds the Overseas Chinese history exhibition hall, a general history hall on Chaozhou, and a special exhibition hall; the third floor holds relic storerooms organized by category, including calligraphy and painting, ceramics, wood carving and folk relics.

The collection is strongest in ceramics, including a Tang-dynasty green-glazed bowl (大青釉瓷碗) and a Song-dynasty porcelain Bodhisattva figure excavated from Chaozhou's Tang and Song kiln sites, valued as material for studying the maritime ceramic trade route. As of September 2022 the museum held 1,346 precious relics, including 10 first-grade, 88 second-grade and 1,248 third-grade national relics.

What to look for

• The overseas-history displays include family objects such as abacuses, tea utensils and woodcarvings.
• Miniature settings and visual displays explain connections between Chaozhou and emigrant communities.

The surrounding area

An eastern Guangdong city base for old-city architecture, the Han River and gongfu tea; give it its own stay.

Location & getting there

Getting to Chaozhou Museum

Go to the museum at the intersection of Fu’an Road and Chaozhou Avenue, on the south side of People’s Square in Xiangqiao. This is the municipal museum site, distinct from the smaller specialist museums in the old town.