National Palace Museum - Chinese Antiquities 國立故宮博物院, GuGong
Originally founded within the walls of the Beijing Forbidden City in 1925, the present-day National Palace Museum moved to Taipei's Shilin District following the Republic of China government relocation in 1949 with an official opening for the public in 1965. Over 600,000 of the most precious artefacts within the collection were moved to Taiwan to prevent their desecration during and after the Chinese Civil War. The museum is currently celebrating its 90TH Anniversary.
A fully modern museum, the Palace Museum also participates in Taiwan's National Digital Archives Program, using the latest in digital technology to digitally preserve its ancient artefacts as well as high technology to improve the museum experience for visitors.
Spread over 4 floors and 2 exhibition halls, the museum's exhibits continuously rotate, as only a small percentage of the museum's collection can be displayed at a given time to prevent wear.
General admission for the museum costs NT$250, and student (with ID) admission costs NT$150. Admission ticket includes access to Zhishan Garden, a beautiful garden park next door to the museum, and the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines located a short distance away.
Those interested in Chinese culture and history are highly encouraged to visit the National Palace Museum, as it hosts the largest number of ancient artefacts, even more than the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Current exhibitions are listed below.
From MRT Red Line 2 Shilin station (士林), walk outside the station and board Bus R30 (紅30), fare NT$15, payable by cash or Easycard. Do not cross the road, as busses on the MRT station side of the road head east towards the museum. Busses generally leave every 30 mins on weekdays until 7PM and 15 mins on weekends until 6:55PM. To visit Shilin Night Market after the museum, take R30 back to the city, but stay on after MRT Shilin until the night market (MRT Jiantan). Additional busses are available after hours on Friday and Saturday evenings. Bus BR20 (棕20) also travels from the museum to Brown Line 1 Dazhi station, however, Shilin is recommended for speed and convenience.
Museum staff recommend visiting the museum on Friday and Saturday evenings for a less crowded experience, and note that Monday is also less busy than other days.
The museum has strict rules regarding photography, and does not allow visitors to carry bags inside. Lockers are available for rental outside the main entrance inside the lobby to the right side.
Personal audio tours with headphones are available for rental in English, Mandarin Chinese (華話), Korean (한국어), and Japanese (日本語).
B1 is designated for organising mainland Chinese tour groups, and individual travellers will find nothing of interest except for the children's museum.
Other destinations located close to the museum include Zhishan Garden, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, and the Zhishan Art Center.
Current Exhibits at the NPM:
The National Palace Museum is also known as gu gong