Zhanjiang Museum 湛江市博物馆

About Zhanjiang Museum

Inside, the regional collection ranges from stone tools and bronze drums to ceramics and material relating to resistance against French rule. These different objects connect the coastal city with the wider Leizhou Peninsula. Look at the building before entering, then concentrate on the local-history galleries and whichever collection objects are currently displayed.

The museum opened on 1 May 1961 as the Zhanjiang Prefecture Museum, converted from a former industrial exhibition hall and absorbing the former Zhanjiang People's Wuxu Anti-French Memorial Hall. After several renamings it took its present name, Zhanjiang City Museum, in 1983. The former Guangzhouwan French Consulate site (广州湾法国公使署旧址) came under its management in 2002, and General Chen Mingren's former residence (陈明仁将军旧居) followed in 2014.

The museum's building dates from 1960 and imitates the style of the Chinese People's Revolution Military Museum; it was declared a Zhanjiang municipal cultural relic protection unit in 2010. It covers a floor area of 6,000 square meters, with 4,500 square meters of exhibition space across seven galleries on its first three floors.

It is a national second-level museum (国家二级博物馆), a status it received in a fourth batch of such designations in 2020. Among its treasured holdings are a 17th-century bronze cannon of the Dutch East India Company, recovered by local fishermen off Xiachuan Island, and a Tang-dynasty green-glazed three-spouted bi-yong-style inkstone (青釉三注辟雍瓷砚); both are rated first-class national cultural relics (国家一级文物).

What to look for

• The red star above the main building is a distinctive part of its exterior.
• Regional collections include bronze drums, ceramics and an Eastern Han wooden canoe; displayed selections can change.

Location & getting there

Getting to Zhanjiang Museum

Use the museum at 50 Nanfang Road in Chikan, on the hill behind Cunjin Park. Approach the museum’s signed entrance from Nanfang Road instead of using the park’s map centre as the drop-off.