10 Quirky Museums to Duck Into and Warm Up in BJ This Winter
Beijing has plenty of quirky museums that are dedicated to oddly specific areas ranging from vintage cars to the notorious baijiu. Below is our list of 10 of the best niche museums in Beijing, for when you've exhausted the usual options.
The museum is tucked into the former Yokohama Specie Bank on a corner of Dongjiaomin Xiang, an area packed with former embassies. The museum offers a history of jurisprudence in China from imperial times to the present day. There are notable sections featuring Chinese fallen officials, as well as famous legal cases from both in and outside of China.
Free (ID required). Tue-Sun, 9am-4pm. 4 Zhengyi Lu, Dongcheng District (6755 7825)
中国法院博物馆: 东城区正义路4号
Located near a group of Beijing's largest watermelon plantations, this juicy museum (which is even shaped like a watermelon) features a wide range of exhibits including paintings, statues, and videos, and will teach you more than you ever dreamed of knowing about this luscious summer fruit.
RMB 20. Tue-Sun, 10am-4.30pm. Inside Zhengfu Dayuan Penggezhuangzhen, Daxing District (8928 1181)
中国西瓜博物馆：大兴区庞各庄镇政府院内
Xuannan, short for “south of Xuanwumen,” refers to the area southwest of the Forbidden City, including historical blocks such as Tianqiao, Niujie, Dashila, and Liulichang, an area fostering a unique cultural atmosphere that still thrives to this day, making Xuannan culture famous throughout China. The museum houses eight exhibition halls, each featuring on a specific aspect of Xuannan culture, including those performing art forms like crosstalk, acrobatics, and temple fairs.
Free (ID required). Tue-Sun, 9am-4.30pm. 9 Changchun Jie, Xicheng District
宣南文化博物馆：西城区长椿街9号
Dongsi Hutong Museum is located in an old, renovated siheyuan, and consists of five exhibition areas and exhibits centuries-long history and culture flourished at Dongsi area through art installations, interactive presentations, and old everyday items, all of which give visitors a vivid impression of a side of Beijing life that is rapidly disappearing.
Free. Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm. 77 Dongsisitiao Hutong, Dongcheng District (6402 7581)
东四胡同博物馆：东城区东四四条77条
Beijing's Maotai museum is hosted in a traditional palace building close to the Forbidden City. It is home to five exhibition sections devoted to explaining the process by which China's most famous brand of baijiu is made, its nearly two-century development, and the underlying culture of baijiu. The collections include rare bottles produced between 1967 to 1982, a period in which China witnessed great domestic turbulence, which are now valued at up to RMB 350,000 each.
RMB 20. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 7 Changpuheyan, Dongcheng District
茅台博物馆：东城区菖蒲河沿7号
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Red Star Erguotou Museum
A similar museum featuring another venerable and time-honored baijiu brand is the Red Star Erguotou Museum. Located in one of the businesses' old factories, here you'll find scenes dedicated to one of the country's most famous erguotou producers, known for its "stronger" flavor and bang-for-your-buck strength when compared to your run-or-the-mill white spirit.
红星二锅头博物馆：怀柔区红星路1号红星酒厂内
Cola lovers will get a real kick out of Beijing's Coca Cola Museum, which documents the American drink's rise as one of the first foreign brands welcomed back into the PRC after Deng Xiaoping's opening up initiative in 1978, and has remained firm ever since. This museum not only teaches you everything you could possibly want to know about this popular soft drink brand but also provides you with refills as you go.
Free. Mon-Fri, 10-11am, 2-3pm. 9 Rongjingdongjie, Yizhuang, Daxing District (6781 3399)
可口可乐博物馆：大兴区荣京东街9号
This vintage car museum is actually a private museum with a limited but very impressive collection of rides, including from old Red Star series, to internationally distinguished vehicle brands such as Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz. While you don't see many of these beauties rolling around the streets these days, we think that Beijing's nouveau-riche, with their Peppa Pig-stickered, matte-pink Lamborghini's could learn a thing or two about style by cruising through this museum.
RMB 50, RMB 25 (children). Daily 8.30am-5.30pm (April-October), 9am-4.30pm (November-March). 19 Fengxiangyiyuan, Yangsong Town, Huairou District (6167 7039)
老爷车博物馆：怀柔区杨宋镇凤翔一园19号
This fascinating museum is home to the cemetery of Tian Yi, an influential eunuch who lived during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The museum is divided into three main sections which explain the history of the practice of castrating males to create the eunuch class, the reasons this practice flourished and was eventually outlawed, and a collection of delicate statues and stone carvings.
RMB 8. Tue-Sun, 9am-4.30pm. 80 Moshikou Avenue, Shijingshan District (8872 4148)
田义墓：石景山区模式口大街80号
You know all about the Bell Tower, but have you been to the Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum? While the temple is one of the city's most famous, the museum is also home to over 400 types of old bells, including those used as traditional instruments.
RMB 20, free (children under 1.4m). Tue-Sun, 9am-4.30pm. 31 A, North Third Ring Road, Haidian District (8213 2630)
大钟寺古钟博物馆：海淀区北三环西路甲31号
Beijing Museum of Tap Water
If you're feeling frustrated by the fact that you can't drink the tap water here in Beijing, perhaps a visit to this Museum would suffice instead. This museum, located near Dongzhimen taps into (har har) the city's history of indoor plumbing and may help you understand a little better the many challenges that plumbers face in getting clean water into the homes of more than 20 million Beijingers.
自来水博物馆：东城区东直门外香河园街3号
On the west side of the Fragrant Hills' Botanical Gardens lies this quaint little museum is devoted to all things apian. Sample different varieties of honey, see bee-keeping accouterments and spend your afternoon engrossed in apicultural studies.
Free. Daily 8.30am-4.30pm. Fragrant Hills Botanical Garden, Haidian District (8259 0094)
中国蜜蜂博物馆：海淀区香山卧佛寺西侧
READ: Challenge Your Taste Buds With Beijing's Top 10 Most Unusual Foods
Photos: Dianping, Wikipedia
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