National Palace Museum 国立故宫博物院 @Taipei

My Taiwan travelogue continue and today’s destination is the popular tourist spot of National Palace Museum 国立故宫博物院.


The Palace Museum was originally founded in 1925 in the Beijing Forbidden City, thus the word “palace” in its name. The present-day National Palace Museum moved to Taipei’s Shilin District on 1949 was to prevent desecration of those precious collection during the Chinese Civil War.

The Taipei National Palace Museum houses more than 690,000 pieces of the world’s  finest Chinese artifacts and artwork including ancient bronze castings, calligraphy, scroll paintings, porcelain, jade, and rare books, many of which were possessions of the former imperial family.

 

Ticketing counters @ B1 floor. Other facilities such as information desk, multimedia auditorium, gift shop, cafe, post office, children gallery, baby changing & feeding room as well as book store also nestled on this floor.

 

Admission Fee: Exhibition I (Main Building)

Adult: NTD $250

Groups of 10 or more: NTD $230 per person, plus a rental fee of NTD$30 for NPM’s audio tour system

Taiwan citizens & Student with valid international student ID: NTD $150

Children under school age & people with disabilities and one accompanying person: FOC

 

Free tours are provided by the Museum in Mandarin Chinese and English. Tour in Mandarin Chinese is available daily at 9:30 AM, 10:00 AM, 2:30 PM. and 4:00 PM, while a tour in English is given daily at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Please refer to the Information Desk for registration and further inquiry. The National Palace Museum also provides guided tours in 7 different languages. check out their WEBSITE for more information.

 

Spread over 4 floors and 2 exhibition halls, the museum’s exhibits an eclectic collection of historical relics that make up the world’s most comprehensive and precious collection of ancient Chinese artifacts. National Palace Museum certainly a place you wouldn’t want to miss especially those who interested in Chinese culture and history! Here’s I will let my photos take you to a tour on some of the unique pieces that exhibited in the museum.

 

What greeted us once we entered the exhibition hall was one of the “Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum” – Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜

Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜

It’s a piece of jadeite carved into the shape of a Chinese cabbage head, and with a locust and katydid camouflaged in the leaves. The figure was carved from a single piece of half-white, half-green jadeite. The combination of various natural colors of the jade was perfectly carved into ruffled semi-translucent appearance of a cabbage leaves.

 

Another mini size jadeite cabbage

 

Mao Gong Ding 毛公鼎

It is another masterpiece in “Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum”. The bronze tripod cauldron, was excavated at the end of the Daoguang period (1821−50) in Qishan County, Shaanxi. Dings (cauldron) were used widely as ritual vessels and this is the most famous ding, originally belonging to Mao Gong. 

The text cast inside the bowl of the cauldron, consisting of 500 characters and arranged in 32 lines, is the longest bronze inscription in the world.

 

Meat-shaped Stone 肉形石

The last masterpiece of “Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum” was exhibited at Southern branch of National Palace Museum at Chiayi District during our visit.

It is a piece of jasper carved into the shape of a stewed pork (Dongpo Pork 东坡肉). The layers of fat and lean meat are clearly defined, even the pores on the skin above are completely rendered. The great craftsmanship really enhance the beauty and features of these natural minerals.

 

 

 

Apart from the permanent displays, National Palace Museum also hosts special exhibitions on regular basis. You may check out the schedule HERE.

In addition to exhibition galleries, the grounds also include the Zhishan and Zhide Gardens, flanking either side of the Museum. They offer visitors and the public a way to enjoy traditional Chinese garden landscaping and architecture, where one can relax and enjoy the outdoors. The Zhishan Garden is open Tuesday to Sunday and admission is NT$20 per person. The Zhide Garden is always open, and admission is free.

The National Palace Museum also maintains the residence of renowned Chinese painter Chang Dai-chien 张大千. The residence, known as the Chang Dai-chien Residence or the Abode of Maya, is a two-story Siheyuan building with Chinese-style gardens occupying approximately 1,911 m². After Chang’s death in 1983, the house and gardens were donated to the National Palace Museum and turned into a museum and memorial.

 

National Palace Museum 国立故宫博物院

No.221, Sec.2, Zhishan Road, Taipei 11143, Taiwan.

Tel: 886-2-6610-3360 

Operating Hours:

1) Exhibition Area: 8.30pm to 6.30pm daily, all year round.
Extension of opening hours at night: 6.30pm – 9.00pm (Fridays and Saturdays)

2) Zhishan & Zhide Garden: Tues – Sunday

~ April to October: 8.30am to 6.30pm

~ November to March: 8.30am to 6.30pm

 

3) Chang Dai-chien Residence: Tues – Sunday (closed on Mondays, Apr. 2 (day of Chang Dai-ch’ien’s passing), and all other national holidays.

Please visit the National Palace Museum website and complete the form 7 days in advance to book your visit.

 

Website: www.npm.gov.tw/en/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/npmgov/

 

Taipei Sightseeing Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus (Blue Line)

MRT: Shilin Station 士林站 (Danshui line 淡水线- Red line), take bus 255,304, 815, Red30, or minibus 18 or 19

MRT: Dazhi Station 大直站 (Wenhu line 文湖线- Brown line), take bus Brown13 OR Jiannan Station 剑南站 (Wenhu line 文湖线- Brown line), take bus 620 or Brown20

 

 

 

 

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