[2025 Beijing Attraction] Travel Guide for The First Historical Archives of China (New Building) (Updated Jan)

1. First Historical Archives of China (New Museum) Originally the Ming and Qing Archives of the Forbidden City, the new museum was established and opened in 2022. You can see a large number of very precious Ming and Qing historical documents. Currently, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors are open to the public. Some of the collections are listed below: ✅Original copy of Kang Youwei's Memorial to the Throne ✅Original copy of the secret establishment of the crown prince ✅Original copy of the Golden List 📝Tips: 🆓Free admission, just swipe your ID card to enter. Selfie sticks and food are not allowed in the museum. 🕙Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–16:30. 📍Address: No. 9 Qinian Street, Dongcheng District (the old museum, Huangshicheng, is not open to the public) 2. Poly Art Museum ✅Original copies of four animal heads from the Old Summer Palace (currently on a business trip to the Poly MGM Museum in Macau) ✅Most of the collections are unique and rare to see outside, and are of great value. 💰Average cost: Tickets are CNY 20 per adult. Free for minors and those over 60. 📍Address: 9th Floor, New Poly Plaza, No. 1 Chaoyangmen North Street, Dongcheng District 🚉Transportation: Walk 170 meters from Exit D (southwest) of Dongsi Shitiao Station on Line 2 to New Poly Plaza

The First Historical Archives of China is a national archive that preserves the central government and royal family archives of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Currently, the fourth floor is hosting a special exhibition of Ming and Qing dynasty archives and storage equipment. The exhibition room displays more than 100 gold cabinets, which are ancient cabinets used to store precious books and archives. Standing in front of the gold cabinets, they appear heavy, with metal surfaces engraved with dragon and cloud patterns. The cabinets are approximately 1.3–1.4 meters long and high, and less than 1 meter wide. According to the exhibition board, archive storage equipment from before the Ming dynasty has been lost, and only the royal archive storage equipment from the Ming and Qing dynasties has survived to this day. The gold cabinets are made of nanmu wood and covered with gilded copper. They were used to store royal records, including the emperor's words and deeds, decrees, national affairs, and the emperor's edicts, instructions, and teachings. In ancient times, the gold cabinets were placed in ancestral temples as a reference for future generations. Standing in front of the rows of gold cabinets in glass cases, one can feel the mystery and majesty of these symbols of ancient royal authority, which have been baptized by the vicissitudes of time and are incredibly precious. The First Historical Archives of China also houses Ming and Qing dynasty royal dragon cabinets, which were used to store important documents related to the royal bloodline, such as royal family trees, births, deaths, marriages, and promotions. The dragon cabinets are not currently on display. The First Historical Archives of China is a magnificent building with a simple and solemn design. Climbing the high steps, one can feel the deep sense of history. The main functions of the First Historical Archives of China are archive preservation, utilization, and display, as well as academic research and international exchange. In addition to the gold cabinet exhibition, there is also an exhibition of Ming and Qing dynasty historical archives. The gold cabinet exhibition will be open until March 31 next year. Admission to the First Historical Archives of China is free, but reservations are required. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, and Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.

There is a permanent exhibition "The Millennium: Jin Kui, Long Gui - Ming and Qing Archives Exhibition" on the fourth floor of the First Historical Archives of China, which is worth a visit. The important archives of the Ming and Qing royal families that are preserved today are inseparable from the important role played by these Jin Kui and Long Gui. Jin Kui and Long Gui are the royal archives of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which have important historical value and rich cultural connotations, and reflect a high level of craftsmanship. The "Millennium" exhibition displays the Jin Kui and Long Gui of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in a "combination of exhibition and collection", and visitors can get a close understanding of their special regulations and exquisite craftsmanship. The history of the "Stone Room Jin Kui" collection of the country's treasures can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. There are inheritances from generation to generation, and they are used continuously. Only the Jin Kui of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have been handed down to the present. Jin Kui refers to a box specially used to collect precious books such as the real records and sacred teachings (called "Bao Xun" in the Ming Dynasty) of the Ming and Qing emperors. There are 120 Jin Kui on display in this exhibition hall, each Jin Kui is 135cm long, 75cm wide, and 130cm high. The inside of the box is made of nanmu or camphor wood, and the outside is wrapped with copper and gold. The cloud dragon pattern is engraved, which can prevent insects, mildew and high temperature, and is conducive to the long-term preservation of archives. The Qing Dynasty Long Gui was made by the Ministry of Industry. Specially store the royal genealogy of the Qing Dynasty-Jade Butterfly. The exhibition hall displays 86 Long Gui, including 5 specifications, the largest Long Gui size is 121.5x82.5x313cm. Long Gui is mainly made of fir and pine, with a lacquered surface, double-opening cabinet doors, and copper locks, handles and hinges. The surface of Long Gui is engraved with gold and painted with cloud dragon patterns, sea water Jiangya patterns, etc., with smooth lines and vividness. As the former archives equipment, Jin Kui and Long Gui silently guarded the Lan Tai Dian Ji Ce, leaving us precious cultural heritage; as today's precious cultural relics, Jin Kui and Long Gui show the ancient wisdom and exquisite craftsmanship, continuing the country and The cultural memory of the nation. In order to preserve and use cultural relics, the First Archives of China currently implements a rotation display of Jin Kui and Long Gui. The Long Gui exhibition is open from April to September each year, and the Jin Kui exhibition is open from October to March of the following year. Address: First Historical Archives of China Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8:30-16:30 Saturday 9:00-17:00 Closed on Sundays

A treasure museum that you can visit twice a year The "First Historical Museum" was established in the 14th year of the Republic of China It was born to keep the archives of the central government and the royal family of the Ming and Qing Dynasties The Jinjia Room on the fourth floor is open to the public from October The stone room and Jinjia are the exclusive archive tools of the Ming and Qing royal families It's particularly shocking I came here especially for it China's First Historical Archives 🎫｜Tickets: Free, reservation required 🚇｜Transportation: Exit H of Chongwenmen Station on Metro Line 2/5, 10 minutes' walk 🕐｜Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 8:30-16:00, closed on Sundays ❤️Tour TIPS: ✅Jinjia and Longgui are open in rotation. Jinjia is open from October 1 to March 31 of the following year, and Longgui is open from April 1 to September 30 ✅There are 8 stamps at the exit and the third floor exhibition hall

The First Historical Archives of China is located in Beijing and houses a large number of archives from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These archives are important materials for studying the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties and are known as one of the four major cultural discoveries in modern China, along with the oracle bones of Yin Ruins, the Dunhuang scriptures, and the Han Dynasty bamboo slips of Juyan. The archives in the museum are rich in content, including records of politics, economy, culture, military, and other aspects, and are of great value for understanding the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In history, there was the Museum of Chinese History, which was an important museum established after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Later, in 2003, the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution merged to become the National Museum of China. The National Museum of China is one of the largest museums in the world, with a large number of collections, systematically displaying the cultural history of the Chinese nation. The Shaanxi History Museum is China's first large-scale modern national museum and is known as the "Pearl of the Ancient Capital, the Treasure House of China". The museum's collection of cultural relics ranges from simple stone tools used in the early stages of ancient humans to various artifacts used in social life before 1840, spanning a time span of more than one million years. Its cultural relics are not only numerous and diverse, but also of high quality and wide value.