The Palace Museum of Shenyang

Established in 1926 and now located at 171 Shenyang Road in Shenyang, Liaoning Province in northeast China. The Palace Museum of Shenyang (沈阳故宫博物馆) is one of the two existing ancient imperial palaces in China, also the only one ancient Manchurian style royal architectural group in the world today. The palace was first built in 1625 at the time of Nurhachi (努尔哈赤) as the king of the Manchu Empire.

Today the Palace Museum of Shenyang, with a construction area of about 60,000 square meters, is like a large garden rather than an ancient royal palace. A great place to go especially during summer as the weather is mild in northeast China. The garden seems small when you first entering, but it will reveal its bigness if you walk inside. It is as if a large classical garden comprises a lot of small gardens. If you are indulged in the beautiful scenery, you may yourself walk in a labyrinth.

There are roughly 100 palace-style buildings and 500 luxury rooms. Some area of the western part of the Palace Museum of Shenyang is the palace resided by Qianlong Emperor (1711 – 1799) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911). It is a state's key cultural protection unit.

The exhibition zone in the museum is about 7,000 square meters, with tens of thousand of Manchurian relics, including constitutional articles, things about Manchu religion, calligraphy, painting, porcelain, embroidery and stone epitaphs. They all reflect the life and history in the old imperial palace, many of which are listed as Chinese national treasures.

Transportation: Bus Nos. 213 or 222, or to take Shenyang Circular Tramway.
Opening hours: 8:30AM – 5:00PM in May, June, September and October; 8:30AM – 5:30PM in July and August; 9:00AM – 4:00PM in November to April the following year.
Admission: 50 RMB