This post is mostly images taken from the National Museum of China, located in Beijing, near the Palace Museum and Tiananmen Square. The purpose for visiting the National Museum was to get a glimpse of the Moon soil that China was able to bring back to Earth from the Chang’e 5 mission which landed back on Earth in December 2020. It’s really incredible what China has achieved in a relatively short period of time in their space program.
While I was there, I also took in some of the historic artefacts, but sadly ran out of time to really explore the breadth and depth of China’s history on display in this well maintained museum. The museum is free to enter, but does require a ticket, which must be booked online. There are daily caps on how many tickets are available to you need to book well in advance.
To get the full benefit of the museum, I think you should set aside at least five hours. That will provide enough time to cover all the major historic and specialty exhibitions. After the museum, you can visit the hutong areas around Qianmen and enjoy the wonderful third wave coffee shops in the area.
I’ll definitely be going back to the museum soon, with a focus on spending more time exploring the historic installations.
X-T4 16mm ISO-250 1/20sec f/4 
Crowds getting a look at the Moon soil; X-T4 16mm ISO-320 1/28sec f/2.8 
Moon soil; X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/320sec f/1.2 
X-T4 16mm ISO-320 1/20sec f/4 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/280sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/240sec f/4 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/350sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/250sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-640 1/85sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/210sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/210sec f/4 
X-T4 56mm ISO-640 1/85sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-800 1/85sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-800 1/75sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-800 1/75sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-800 1/28sec f/2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-800 1/75sec f/1.2 
X-T4 56mm ISO-320 1/480sec f/8