Visitors farewell Shanghai Museum prior to temporary closure
The Shanghai Museum, a cultural landmark at downtown People's Square, temporarily closed for renovations on Monday, with part of its showrooms expected to reopen at the year end.
It's the first time the museum has closed since it opened in 1996.
Last year, the Shanghai Museum launched a "Great Museum Project" and announced the renovation as well as the construction of its East Branch and North Branch, which will respectively focus on the general history of ancient Chinese art and the No. 2 ancient ship at the Yangtze River Estuary.
The art-related exhibits stored at the museum will be moved to the East Branch located in Pudong's Huamu area.
After it reopens, the museum at People's Square will mainly host themed and special exhibitions.
Visitors stroll the square outside the Shanghai Museum.
On Sunday, the last day before the temporary closure, people from all across the country flocked to the museum to visit and say a short goodbye to it.
A man, surnamed Wang, told Shanghai Television that he worked as a volunteer at Mount Caoxie Archaeological Site Park, which is located in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and home to Jiangnan's Majiabang, Songze, and Liangzhu cultures.
"My volunteer friends and I took the high-speed train from Suzhou together, and I'm gratified that I can be here before it closes," Wang said.
People took pictures at the museum and lined up to get stamps from its special exhibitions to keep as souvenirs.
Over the past 27 years, the museum has attracted local residents and tourists from all over the world to its many impressive and memorable exhibitions.
In the early years, it provided exhibitions of calligraphy and painting from ancient dynasties.
After it dropped the admission charge in 2008, in addition to domestic cultural relic-themed exhibitions, the museum also held overseas exhibitions such as the very popular "A History of the World in 100 Objects from the British Museum" exhibition, and "Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London" exhibition.
Visitors line up to see the "A History of the World in 100 Objects from the British Museum" exhibition at Shanghai Museum.
Visitors view a work from the "Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London" exhibition.
