Few in Shanghai are aware of the existence of the "Vault" Museum in Xintiandi.

🧚‍♀️Nestled near Xintiandi in the heart of Shanghai, there stands a serene and understated old building that encapsulates over a century of Shanghai's tumultuous financial history. This is the lesser-known Shanghai Bank Museum! 🏠The edifice, which served as the Shanghai Lawyers Association before the liberation, is now the first financial industry museum in China, sponsored by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. 💰The museum spans nearly 4,000 square meters and showcases over 5,000 precious artifacts from financial history, making it the richest and most diverse financial industry museum in the country. 📽️The museum is spread over four floors and is divided into three main sections. It follows the narrative of China's modern banking history, with numerous large-scale scene restorations, sculptures, paintings, and other artistic creations vividly recreating the scenes of the time. ‼️Highlights include: 🚪The eye-catching exhibits in the hall, including two iron doors and a vault door that were removed intact; 📠The museum's treasures, such as an accounting machine that resembles a typewriter, Shanghai's first ATM... 📟The Gongping Road Savings Office in Hongkou District, from the barred counter to the tables, chairs, and vouchers, even the floor was pried up and moved to the Bank Museum, authentically recreating the scene from the 1980s; 📻The scene of China's first ticket number, Rishengchang, with its exquisite carved doors and windows, and golden signboard, all replicated according to the old site in Pingyao; 🧮China is the homeland of the abacus, and in the money shop scene, there is a bronze sculpture of a shopkeeper holding an abacus; 🎨In the foreign bank exhibition hall, a bronze model of HSBC and a touchscreen are placed on a white pedestal in the center. The top of the hall features a painted glass installation that showcases the mural of HSBC's dome; 🏛️The exhibition area of the Yokohama Specie Bank hall, known as the "First Hall of the Far East," with its magnificent marble floors and stone columns, and display cabinets resembling old-fashioned counters; 💰A meticulous replica of the "First Vault of the Far East" - the original vault door of the Central Bank of Shanghai, along with a set of safe deposit boxes. Some of the boxes are designed as display cabinets, and when people approach, the lights inside the cabinets will turn on, revealing the valuable items stored inside. 💯There is so much to appreciate, learn, and explore. I highly recommend that if you're visiting Xintiandi, take some time to visit this museum! #thingstodoshanghai