During China's National Day holiday, museums and art galleries across the country are arranging an array of cultural treats. CGTN has selected some fancy exhibitions and art attractions in Beijing and Shanghai. Let's go out together and enjoy a culture trip.

Beijing

The Palace Museum

Also known as the Forbidden City, the Palace Museum has long been one of Beijing's major cultural attractions and landmarks. Tickets to the Palace Museum are popular every holiday, but this year, according to news reports, tickets for the National Day holiday have sold out early.

Recent exhibitions at the Palace Museum have been very attractive, including "New Views on Imperial Ceramics" at the Palace of Great Benevolence (Jingren gong), "Special Exhibition on the Paintings and Calligraphy of Su Shi in the Palace Museum Collection" at the Hall of Literary Brilliance (Wenhua dian), and the special exhibition about "Six Centuries at the Forbidden City" at Meridian Gate (Wu men), showing the development and changes of the Palace Museum in the past 600 years from various angles.

Because of these superb exhibitions, tickets at the Palace Museum have sold out during the National Day holidays, but visitors can still go to the museum after the holiday peak time to enjoy and learn before the exhibition ends. "The Special Exhibition on the Paintings and Calligraphy of Su Shi" will close on October 30. Visitors can book tickets in advance on the official website.

To prevent overcrowding, the Palace Museum announced on October 5 that all tickets for the National Day holiday have been sold out, and that on-site tickets will not be available. People can also choose the panoramic online tour on the website of the Palace Museum.

Information:

Exhibition: Special Exhibition on the Paintings and Calligraphy of Su Shi in the Palace Museum Collection

Date: September 1, 2020 – October 30, 2020 (Closed on Mondays)

Venue: Hall of Literary Brilliance (Wenhua dian) in the Palace Museum

Instructions:

Visit by reservation only, visitors can book tickets online in advance and avoid rush hours. Wear a mask at all times.

UCCA Center for Contemporary Art

From August 15 to November 29, 2020, UCCA presents "Elizabeth Peyton: Practice", the artist's first solo exhibition in China.

A leader in contemporary, figurative painting, Elizabeth Peyton's works draw on her deep knowledge of modern art – from Manet to Warhol – while staying connected with late-20th-century America. Her exhibition "Practice" at UCCA in Beijing's 798 art district brings together drawings and paintings from her 30-year career, with a particular focus on the past decade.

Among the 40 portraits, it's easy to find familiar faces: Napoleon, Queen Elizabeth II, and a group of artists including Matthew Barney, David Hockney, Dali, and Hanyu Yuzuru.

The exhibition has been open for nearly two months, but the heat is still there. Even for Chinese viewers, Peyton's particular and powerful paintings bring people closer to the celebrities who have influenced pop culture in modern times.

"For me what's so special about it that every one of them you could feel the artist's hand. You could almost see each of the brush strokes. And especially at this moment when it's harder to travel, it's so refreshing to see that come to our lives, and our field of vision," Philip Tinari, director of UCCA Contemporary Art Center, told CGTN.

Information:

Exhibition: Elizabeth Peyton: Practice

Date: August 15, 2020 - November 29, 2020 (Closed on Mondays)

Venue: Central Gallery & New Gallery, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

Instructions:

No reservation request, visitors can book tickets online in advance and avoid rush hours. Wear a mask at all times.

Shanghai

Bund One Art Museum

On the afternoon of September 16, the exhibition "Impression Sunrise by Claude Monet" opened in the Bund One Art Museum. Long queues formed in front of the 110-year-old neoclassical building as a lot of people tried to catch a glimpse of Monet's artwork.

The exhibition, themed "Impression Sunrise," features 47 works. This is the first time that Monet's "Impression, Sunrise" painting has made its way to Shanghai, together with his other masterpieces including "London Charing Cross Bridge," "The Sailing Boat, Evening Effect," "Camille on the Beach in Trouville" and more – all from Marmottan Monet Museum of Paris.

The exhibition also creatively adopts the technical projection method to create a light interactive experience exhibition area. In addition to the exhibition of world-renowned paintings, there are more than 100 kinds of cultural and creative art derivatives and an exclusive exhibition catalog.

No reservation is required for the exhibition. Visitors can buy tickets online in advance. However, according to previous media reports about the popularity of the exhibition, the number of visitors during Golden Week will not be small.

Information:

Exhibition: Impression Sunrise by Claude Monet

Date: September 17, 2020 – January 3, 2021 (10:00 – 17:30)

Venue: Bund One Art Museum, No. 1 Zhongshan East 1st Road Huangpu District, Shanghai

Instructions:

No reservation request, visitors can book tickets online in advance and avoid rush hours. Wear a mask at all times.

Shanghai Museum

Together with the Asian Civilizations Museum of Singapore, Shanghai Museum presented "The Baoli Era: Treasures from the Tang Shipwreck Collection" exhibition in conjunction with the 2020 commemoration of 30 years of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China and Singapore.

The Tang shipwreck is from a merchant dhow that used to sail between China and the Arabian world along the maritime Silk Road routes during the 9th century. It sank off the coast of Indonesia's Belitung Island, with a full shipload of Tang cargo composed of export ceramics, gold, silver and bronze mirrors.

The ship finally resurfaced after lying silent underwater for more than a millennium. The wreck, like a time capsule, preserves the grandeur of the maritime trade between East and West in the 9th century and bears witness to Asian seafaring ancestors making glorious maritime history.

This exhibition is the debut in China of the Tang Shipwreck Collection. For the first time, the largest single collection of Tang-dynasty (618-907) artifacts found outside of China has visit home.

The exhibition not only gives visitors a glimpse of the exquisite life and open and inclusive culture of the Tang Dynasty but also outlines the bustling exchanges along the Maritime Silk Road 1,200 years ago.

Among the 248 groups of cultural relics exhibited, there are not only 168 pieces of sunken ship treasures that have come all the way from Singapore, but also the collection of Shanghai Museum and 80 pieces of cultural relics on loan from nine institutions in China.

Information:

Exhibition: The Baoli Era: Treasures from the Tang Shipwreck Collection

Date: September 15, 2020 – January 10, 2021 (Closed on Mondays)

Venue: Shanghai Museum No. 2 Exhibition Hall (2F)

Instructions:

Visit by reservation only, visitor can book tickets online in advance and avoid rush hours. Wear a mask at all times.