National Art Museum of China is located on Wu Si Street. It is a national level art museum focused on displaying, collecting and researching the works of the artists in China modern times. Chairman Mao Zedong wrote the name of the museum.

National Art Museum of China covers an area of 30,000 square meters with its construction acreage of 17,051 square meters. And its exhibition halls are 6,000 square meters. The construction was started in 1958 and finished in 1962. It is one of the Great Ten Constructions to mark the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China and also the largest art museum in China. After over one year's decoration, it was reopened on July 23, 2003.

Its main construction is the modern constructions imitating the ancient attic style. Its top is decorated by the yellow glazed tiles. There are the corridors and pavilions around. It is filled with the distinctive nationality construction style. The museum can be divided to three levels as the upper, middle and lower level respectively.

There are totally 13 exhibition halls in the museum, and the three collective anti-ultraviolet radiation colored fluorescent lamps are illuminating on the halls. The acreage of the round hall is 480 square meters that is suited for hanging the large-sized art works. The acreages of the east and west side halls in the first floor are 470 square meters respectively that are equipped with large glass exhibition cabinets. While each of the four corner halls cover an area of 500 square meters; The exhibition places of the second and third floors are opposed to the main hall; The new painting collecting storeroom occupies an area of 5,000 square meters.

In the museum, there are fine arts works exhibiting & marketing hall and art works service department.

The art museum has collected more than 60,000 fine arts works in the modern times and from the folks. Its varieties include excellent works with different time features and different art styles like Chinese paintings, canvases, prints, sculptures, Spring Festival pictures, funnies, picture posters, pencil sketches, iconography, watercolor paintings, varnish paintings. It also includes the agrestic art works like puppets, shadow play works, paper-cuts, kites, mud toys, embroideries and so on.

The exhibition activities individual painting exhibitions, collective painting exhibitions, film exhibitions, calligraphy exhibitions, children's painting and folk fine works exhibitions are increased gradually.

In 1998, it held the International Fine Arts Year that won the high praise from all walks of life in society. The annual average visitors numbers is one million.

Further Information:

Address: No.1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District (Bus routes Nos. 101, 104 and 108, please get off at the station of art museum.)

Open: 9:00 -- 16:00, closed on Mondays

Tel: 8610-64017076, 8610-64012252

Website: www.namoc.org

(China.org.cn May 1, 2005)