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Seventeen years on the streets, living and working with the people of China, Jeff
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Skyhigh interest in museums
Every time Evelyne and I go to travel in China, we are absolutely gobsmacked by the huge public interest of museums all across the country. Everywhere in China there is a massive interest in museums of all kinds, art galleries, etc.
Not just weekends and holidays, when Chinese museums are packed, but during the work week, they are full of visitors, especially grandparents and family elders going with young children.
Be it small towns, medium-sized cities or mega-centers like Shenzhen and Shanghai, we always make it a point to go to the local museums. They are a great way to connect with the people, see how the Chinese look at themselves, as well as how they perceive the outside world.
May 18th, International Museum Day is splashed and promoted all over Sino-media every year. It’s a big deal for culture- and history-hungry Chinese.
Statistics tell the Sino-story
As one of the articles below explains,
According to statistics released by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the number of registered museums nationwide reached 7,188 by the end of 2025, an increase of 142 from the previous year and more than 1,400 over the past five years. Notably, over 91 percent of all museums across the country now offer free admission to the public.
In 2025, museums across the country hosted 45,000 exhibitions and organized 583,000 educational activities, receiving 1.56 billion visits. All major indicators reached record highs while public cultural services continued to improve, according to Rao Quan, director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration.
Chinese museums have also continued to strengthen international cultural exchanges. Last year, more than 110 overseas exhibitions of Chinese cultural relics and over 240 inbound exhibitions were held, spanning over 20 countries and regions across four continents.
Imaging that: 142 new museums in 2025. One point five six billion entries make an average of one visit by every Chinese citizen each year!
About those ticketed Chinese museums
The nine percent of Chinese museums with an entry fee are mostly private and dirt cheap compared to the Judeo-West. Even premier Forbidden City in Beijing is only ¥60 (€7.59) and the few provincial ticket prices that we have come across are ¥10-20.
For elders like us, we rarely pay in any case, since anyone over 60-65 years of age gets in for FREE! New York Metropolitan Museum of Art costs $30, with the discount of $22 for over 65s. Gee, thanks!
US museums are dying
With ticket costs like that, the opposite is true in Judeo-America, where museums are slowly dying. Per an article cited below,
Key Findings
Museums across the country are confronting a convergence of financial pressures and declining attendance, even as they continue serving as vital community anchors.
The survey of 511 museum directors reveals troubling reversals in the sector’s post-pandemic recovery:
More than half of museums (55%) are currently seeing fewer visitors than in 2019, a setback from last year when 49% remained below pre-pandemic levels.
Nearly one-third (29%) of museums report decreased attendance in 2025 due to weakened travel and tourism and economic uncertainty.
Only half of museums (52%) report stronger financial performance in 2024 than before the pandemic, down from 57% the previous year.
Additionally, the report documents significant impacts from 2025 executive orders and federal actions.
One-third of museums (34%) have had government grants or contracts canceled, most often by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Only 8% of affected museums report that lost federal funding has been fully replaced by foundations, sponsors, or donors, while 67% report the funding has not been replaced at all.
These funding losses have forced difficult choices:
Among museums that lost federal funds, 24% cancelled programming for students, rural communities, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, or veterans.
28% of affected museums reduced programming for the general public.
21% of all museums have deferred facility or physical infrastructure improvements or construction.
Without tourists, France’s fate would be the same
France fares better, where 75% of museum visits are by non-French tourists. An article below in French explains the phenomenon. For nationals, it is too expensive to take the family to most museums. The Louvre is now €22 to buy a ticket at the door. Palais de Versailles costs €21-35 per person. Only tourists who spend thousands of their currency to get there, feel obliged to shell out that kind of money.
There would be riots if Baba Beijing tried that in China.
The Talmud-Tanakh occupation, colonization and Weimarization of oppressed and browbeaten Westerners is complete.
Chinese love FREE
Back in Communist-Socialist-Confucist-Daoist-Buddhist China, museums are a great way for families, especially with children, to have a fun afternoon at no cost. We love seeing parents and grandparents with their kids in Chinese museums, showing them the exhibitions. We talk to many of them and take photographs together. Many of them are dressed up in Hanfu dress (cosplay), ancient costumes from previous dynasties.
Matisse, Dali, Picasso, Impressionism, Western Middle Ages, Renoir, the Louvre, Tutenkhamun
Bigger museums have hundreds of exhibitions across China each year from around the world, while provincial and municipal museums have a vast network of exchanges from across the country that makes the rounds. In China, we have seen exhibitions by Matisse, Dali, Picasso, Impressionism, Western Middle Ages, Renoir, the Louvre, Tutankhamun and many others, and unlike the Judeo-West, they are free, or these special exhibitions may have a token-priced ticket to see them.
Chinese museums also cooperate with less well-known exhibits in Global South countries, so we can see exhibitions from Asia, Africa, South America, Oceania, etc. It just goes on and on. It’s a great way to build cross-cultural bridges, connecting with the rest of humanity. This is a common refrain among Chinese museum goers, “I can’t go Indonesia, but I can travel there vicariously with this exhibit”. No offense, but Chinese are infinitely more curious about the world around them than Talmud-Tanakh Westerners.
Don’t miss China’s outstanding museums
When you travel to China, be sure to take the time to see the local museums. Plan for a couple of days to do so. Be forewarned, they close each week either on Monday or Tuesday. Not a few times we have not checked and gotten bitten in the butt. However, for the public, they are almost always open during holidays.
Even down to smaller cities, they can be very interesting and fascinating. We’ve been amazed at what is on offer in tiny towns and hamlets. We’ve run into a handful that are a little kitschy, but that’s part of the fun! Regional and local museums often do not have English for every display (although this is getting better and better), but will usually have a summary panel in English for each section, with the visuals doing the rest.
Key tips to see Sino-culture
Be sure to take your passports, where an attendant will hand-sign you in. If you see a set-up to register with a QR code, ignore it, wait your turn in line, show them your foreign ID and you’ll get in. The reason they do this is that museums are so frequented, they have to limit the number of visitors each day, so citizens have to reserve in advance, to keep a headcount. Even if the headcount is maxxed out that day, we always get in with our passports. Chinese are not going to turn away foreigners who have taken the time to see their history and culture!
If you’re interested in Chinese modern history, there are hundreds of Red Tour museums explaining the Chinese Communist Revolution and Civil War. To check those out, see the link below for Amir&Jeff’s Excellent China Adventure Series. For other museums, be sure to check out the articles in Evelyne&Jeff’s Excellent China Adventure Series. Amir, Evelyne and I revolve our travels around museum and cultural visits. You’ll be glad you did.
Mark your calendars
This year, you may have missed May 18th’s International Museum Day. Mark your calendars for 2027 Year of the Goat. Baaaaaaaaa…!
References
Further reading
Jeff J. Brown’s ever-expanding collection of living libraries and catalogues. Many years and 1,000s of hours of writing+podcasting. Take advantage of them. Radio Sinoland 2026 Year of the Fire Horse!
ADVENTURES IN ASIA WITH LADYB, FASHU, LAOLAO AND GONGGONG Series (with Evelyne Roux, focused on Taiwan Province and the rest of Asia)
Amir&Jeff’s Excellent China Adventure Series (with China Writer Amir Khan)
Evelyne&Jeff’s Excellent China Adventure Series (with Evelyne Roux)
The Southern Chinese Art Scene – with Revolutionary, Socialist Characteristics 20160418
The Southern Chinese Art Scene – with Revolutionary, Socialist Characteristics 20160418
10 new image/video vignettes: walk with me and the Chinese people on their streets, from THEIR point of view… China Rising Radio Sinoland 231029
Chinese people are bringing the best medical and pharma services, worldwide, at a much lower cost. I highly recommend going there for medical tourism. Radio Sinoland 251221
Living library on Judaism. Continually updated. With image texts and video transcripts to easily copy for your use, and for translating them and this webpage in all available languages!
https://radiosinoland.com/2025/01/23/judaism/
Go Russia GO!
Go Iran GO!
Go China GO!
Go DPRK GO!
Go “RICK”! Go Asian Quad!
KICK JUDEO-TALMUD-TANAKH ASS!!!
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Further study
The China Trilogy is an honorary degree in Chinese Studies. Don’t miss out!
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00TX0TDDI/allbooks and
Jeff J. Brown’s libraries and catalogues A-Z: 1,000s of hours of research, writing, editing and podcasting.
https://radiosinoland.com/2025/11/30/jeff-j-browns-ever-expanding-collection-of-living-libraries-and-catalogues-many-years-and-1000s-of-hours-of-writingpodcasting-take-advantage-of-them-radio-sinoland-2025-year-of-the-wood-snake/
Do yourself, your friends, family and colleagues a favor, to make sure all of you are Sino-smart:
Google ebooks (Epub) and audiobooks:
44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YBKHEAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCkQXRlM
China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YNmLEAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M
BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=6Wl4EAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M
Amazon print and ebooks (Kindle):
44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484939999/
China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations
https://www.amazon.com/China-Rising-Capitalist-Socialist-Destinations/dp/0996487042
BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution
https://www.amazon.com/BIG-Red-Book-China/dp/1673322719/
Author page:
https://www.amazon.com/Mr.-Jeff-J.-Brown/e/B00TX0TDDI
Praise for The China Trilogy:
Why and How China works: With a Mirror to Our Own History
JEFF J. BROWN, Editor, China Rising, and Senior Editor & China Correspondent, Dispatch from Beijing, The Greanville Post
Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTube, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]
Jeff can be reached at China Rising, [email protected], Facebook, Twitter, Wechat (+86-19806711824/Mr_Professor_Brown, and Line/Telegram/Whatsapp: +33-612458821.
Read it in your language • Lealo en su idioma • Lisez-le dans votre langue • Lies es in deniner Sprache • Прочитайте это на вашем языке • 用你的语言阅读
[google-translator]
Wechat group: search the phone number +8619806711824 or my ID, Mr_Professor_Brown, friend request and ask Jeff to join the China Rising Radio Sinoland Wechat group. He will add you as a member, so you can join in the ongoing discussion.
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