Shenzhen Museum

Established in 1981, Shenzhen Museum is the first museum of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. It is also a first grade national museum, a tourist attraction of revolutionary heritage and a national base for the popularization of social sciences.

Shenzhen Museum now has four venues: the Museum of History and Folk Culture, the Museum of Ancient Art, the Ye Ting Guerrilla Command Memorial Museum and the Exhibition Hall Showcasing Shenzhen's Development during the Past 40 Years Since the Reform and Opening Up, covering an area of 60,000 square meters. 

It holds more than 40,000 historical and cultural relics and has 7 permanent exhibitions. Every year it holds over 300 cultural and educational events and attracts more than 1.5 million visitors, more than most museums in China.   

Currently six venues that are under planning or construction include the Natural Museum, Maritime Museum, the Shenzhen branch of the National Museum of China, China Reform and Opening Up Museum, Xiantouling Site Park and Museum and the Boundary Administration Museum of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. In the future Shenzhen Museum will become a large-scale comprehensive museum with branches featuring history, folk art, nature, ancient art, contemporary society and intangible cultural heritage.

Museum of History and Folk Culture and the Exhibition on the History of Shenzhen’s Reform and Opening Up

Located in the Section A of the Civic Center, the Museum of History and Folk Culture is designed by well-known American designer Li Mingyi and covers a floor area of 32,000 square meters and an exhibition area of more than 10,000 square meters. It was opened to the public in December 2008.

The Exhibition on the History of Shenzhen’s Reform and Opening Up is one of the highlights of the museum’s permanent exhibitions. Covering an area of 3,200 square meters, the exhibition features the historical development of China’s reform and opening up and Shenzhen’s history before the reform and opening up. Following a timeline of different stages of Shenzhen’s social and economic development over the past four decades, the exhibition includes “Be a pioneer and blaze a trail (1978-1992),” “Scale new heights through innovation (1992-2002),” “Take a new path of scientific development (2002-2012),” “Dare to innovate to strive for great victories of the socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era (2012-now).” Exhibits include more than 2,500 objects, 1,200 pictures, 220 historical documents and 25 video materials, which showcase Shenzhen’s development since the reform and opening up 40 years ago. As an important window for the outside world to know the history of Shenzhen’s reform and opening up, the exhibition also displays the great achievements of China’s reform and opening up and modernization.

In 2009, the exhibition was once conferred the “Excellence Award of the Top 10 Display Exhibitions of the Museums in China.”