Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution

Established in 1960, the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution is China’s first comprehensive military museum. It houses over 340,000 artifacts, including weapons, military uniforms, and documents, reflecting the military history of the People’s Liberation Army, ancient and modern Chinese military history, and world military history. The museum features 43 exhibition halls covering nearly 60,000 square meters, with notable displays of weaponry, revolutionary wars, and military technology. Located at No. 9 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, it is accessible via Subway Line 1 and Line 9, with the Military Museum Station being the nearest stop. Admission is free, but real-name reservations are required. The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00, closed on Mondays. For more information, visit their official website at https://eng.jb.mil.cn/.

Planning your visit

The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution is enormous — 43 exhibition halls across nearly 60,000 square metres, holding over 340,000 items — and its scale is the first thing visitors register. The central hall is filled with heavy weaponry: aircraft, tanks, missiles and artillery arranged under a high ceiling, including captured equipment from the Korean War and Soviet-supplied hardware. Upper floors cover the People's Liberation Army's history, the revolutionary wars, ancient Chinese military history and world military history.

The presentation is official and unambiguous about its perspective, which is part of what makes it worth visiting: this is how the Chinese state narrates its military past to its own citizens, and reading it as such is more interesting than reading it as neutral history.

Admission is free but requires real-name reservation in advance with passport details, and the museum closes on Mondays. It is directly served by Military Museum station on subway lines 1 and 9.

Bookable options include entry tickets with the reservation handled and digital maps or guides — worth having, since English labelling thins considerably away from the main hall and the building is large enough to lose orientation in. Current availability is listed below.