Shanghai Shikumen Museum,

Unlike most historical museums, Shanghai Shikumen Museum is more like an authentic restoration of the living space of old time Shanghainese people. The Museum is located in the vicinity of the New World Hotel, where people are chasing luxury and trends, and, once in a blue moon, looking back at the old buildings to discover a peaceful moment. (Shikumen is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s.) The Museum was adapted and transformed from an old Shikumen House built in the 1920s. The entire exhibition hall was built according to the model of one particular household in the Longtang in the 1920s. It tells the story of one family there.

Quick Facts

Chinese name:石库门 shí kù mén
Constructed: 1920s
Duration: 2-4 hours
Entrance fee: RMB 20/person
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday 10:30-22:30, Friday to Saturday 11:00-23:00
Address: No. 25, Lane 181, Taicang Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Best time to visit: All year round
Bus: No. 146, No. 109, No. 781, No. 932, Metro Line 1 or Huhai Special Line

Attractions:

the old Shanghainese people’s life in Shikumen

1. Shanghai people's living space

The Shikumen Museum is based on a family of six people in Shanghai in the 1920s. It has 7 main displays rooms, namely a guest room, study room, room for the elderly, master bedroom, daughter’s room, son’s room and kitchen. People can see the Shikumen architectural culture and the details of the old Shanghainese people’s life with their own eyes.

2. Collections:

All display objects in the showroom, the furniture, stoves, student textbooks, lipsticks, ashtrays, etc. are the real objects used in the Shikumen Longtang between the 1920s and 1930s. On the dressing table in the master bedroom on the second floor, a box of rouge and a hairpin with a jade inlay are placed on the dresser. The gramophone is playing some brisk jazz music. These objects really bring the visitors back to that era.