National first-grade museums of China

The designation "national first-grade museum" (simplified Chinese: 国家一级博物馆; traditional Chinese: 國家一級博物館; pinyin: guójiā yījí bówùguǎn) is the highest classification for museums in China, as determined by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH).^[1]

A first-grade museum generally has a comprehensive collection of artifacts, or has a large number of items in its collection with "very high historical, cultural, scientific, and artistic value". A first-grade museum is also expected to be a social and educational institution, with a professional staff, long-term volunteers, and facilities for educational services. First-grade museums are not required to be owned by the state. State-owned museums are expected to open for more than 300 days a year, while non-state-owned museums are only expected to be open for 240 days. Performance measures for the museums are expected to be regularly published on government websites.^[1]

Scoring system

The SACH evaluates China's museums using a scoring system comprising three criteria: "comprehensive management and infrastructure" (200 points), "collection management and scientific research" (300 points), and "exhibition and social services" (500 points), with a total score of 1000. Museums scoring more than 800 points are classified as first grade. Among the rest, those scoring more than 600 points are classified as second grade, and those with 400 to 600 points are classified as third grade.^[1]

List of first-grade museums

On 16 May 2008, the SACH issued the first batch of 83 national first-grade museums, including the Palace Museum.^[2] However, in November 2013, 4 of the 83 museums failed to score more than 800 points in their reassessment, and were demoted to second-grade museums. They were the Beijing Planetarium, the Memorial of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in Dandong, the Chinese Navy Museum in Qingdao, and the Xiamen Overseas Chinese Museum.^[3]

On 15 November 2012, the SACH announced the second batch of 17 national first-grade museums, including the National Museum of China.^[4]

On 19 January 2017, the Chinese Museums Association announced the third batch of 34 national first-grade museums including the Beijing Planetarium, which had previously been demoted.^[5]

As of 2013, there were 3,354 museums in China, including 811 private ones.^[1] There are 131 museums classified as national first-grade as of 2017.^[2]^[4]^[5]

Museum	City	Province	Batch
Palace Museum	Beijing	Beijing	1
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution	Beijing	Beijing	1
China Science and Technology Museum	Beijing	Beijing	1
Geological Museum of China	Beijing	Beijing	1
Chinese Aviation Museum	Beijing	Beijing	1
Capital Museum	Beijing	Beijing	1
Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall	Beijing	Beijing	1
Beijing Museum of Natural History	Beijing	Beijing	1
Beijing Planetarium	Beijing	Beijing	1, 3
Beijing Lu Xun Museum	Beijing	Beijing	1
Zhoukoudian Site Museum	Beijing	Beijing	1
National Museum of China	Beijing	Beijing	2
China Agricultural Museum	Beijing	Beijing	2
Prince Gong's Mansion Museum	Beijing	Beijing	3
Tianjin Museum	Tianjin	Tianjin	1
Memorial to Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao	Tianjin	Tianjin	1
Tianjin Natural History Museum	Tianjin	Tianjin	1
Hebei Museum	Shijiazhuang	Hebei	1
Xibaipo Memorial Museum	Xibaipo	Hebei	1
Handan Museum	Handan	Hebei	3
Shanxi Museum	Taiyuan	Shanxi	1
Taihang Memorial Hall of the Eighth Route Army	Wuxiang County	Shanxi	1
China Coal Museum	Taiyuan	Shanxi	1
Inner Mongolia Museum	Hohhot	Inner Mongolia	1
Ordos Museum	Ordos	Inner Mongolia	3
Liaoning Provincial Museum	Shenyang	Liaoning	1
September 18th History Museum	Shenyang	Liaoning	1
Lüshun Museum	Dalian	Liaoning	1
~~Memorial of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea~~ (delisted)	Dandong	Liaoning	1
Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum	Shenyang	Liaoning	3
Dalian Modern Museum	Dalian	Liaoning	3
Jilin Museum of Natural History	Changchun	Jilin	1
Jilin Provincial Museum	Changchun	Jilin	2
Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo	Changchun	Jilin	3
Northeast Martyrs Museum	Harbin	Heilongjiang	1
Wang Jinxi Memorial Hall	Daqing	Heilongjiang	1
Aihui History Museum	Heihe	Heilongjiang	1
Heilongjiang Provincial Museum	Harbin	Heilongjiang	2
Daqing Museum	Daqing	Heilongjiang	3
Shanghai Museum	Shanghai	Shanghai	1
Museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party	Shanghai	Shanghai	1
Shanghai Lu Xun Museum	Shanghai	Shanghai	1
Shanghai Science and Technology Museum	Shanghai	Shanghai	2
Chen Yun Museum	Shanghai	Shanghai	3
Nanjing Museum	Nanjing	Jiangsu	1
Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall	Nanjing	Jiangsu	1
Suzhou Museum	Suzhou	Jiangsu	1
Nantong Museum	Nantong	Jiangsu	1
Yangzhou Museum	Yangzhou	Jiangsu	1
Changzhou Museum	Changzhou	Jiangsu	3
Nanjing Municipal Museum	Nanjing	Jiangsu	3
Zhejiang Provincial Museum	Hangzhou	Zhejiang	1
Zhejiang Museum of Natural History	Hangzhou	Zhejiang	2
China National Silk Museum	Hangzhou	Zhejiang	2
Ningbo Museum	Ningbo	Zhejiang	2
Wenzhou Museum	Wenzhou	Zhejiang	3
Hangzhou Museum	Hangzhou	Zhejiang	3
Anhui Museum	Hefei	Anhui	1
Huizhou Culture Museum	Huangshan	Anhui	3
Fujian Museum	Fuzhou	Fujian	1
~~Xiamen Overseas Chinese Museum~~ (delisted)	Xiamen	Fujian	1
China Museum of Relationship of Fujian–Taiwan Kinship	Quanzhou	Fujian	1
Quanzhou Maritime Museum	Quanzhou	Fujian	1
Gutian Conference Memorial Hall	Gutian	Fujian	1
Central Soviet Area (Minxi) History Museum	Longyan	Fujian	3
Jiangxi Provincial Museum	Nanchang	Jiangxi	1
Nanchang August 1st Memorial Hall	Nanchang	Jiangxi	1
Jinggangshan Revolutionary Museum	Jinggangshan	Jiangxi	1
Ruijin Central Revolutionary Base Museum	Ruijin	Jiangxi	1
Anyuan Workers' Movement Museum	Pingxiang	Jiangxi	3
Qingdao Museum	Qingdao	Shandong	1
~~Chinese Navy Museum~~ (delisted)	Qingdao	Shandong	1
First Sino-Japanese War Museum	Weihai	Shandong	1
Qingzhou Museum	Qingzhou	Shandong	1
Shandong Museum	Jinan	Shandong	2
Yantai Museum	Yantai	Shandong	3
Weifang Museum	Weifang	Shandong	3
Henan Museum	Zhengzhou	Henan	1
Zhengzhou Museum	Zhengzhou	Henan	1
Luoyang Museum	Luoyang	Henan	1
Nanyang Han Paintings Museum	Nanyang	Henan	1
Kaifeng Museum	Kaifeng	Henan	3
Eyuwan Soviet Revolution Museum	Xin County	Henan	3
Hubei Provincial Museum	Wuhan	Hubei	1
Jingzhou Museum	Jingzhou	Hubei	1
Wuhan Museum	Wuhan	Hubei	1
Wuchang Uprising Museum	Wuhan	Hubei	3
Zhongshan Warship Museum	Wuhan	Hubei	3
Hunan Museum	Changsha	Hunan	1
Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memorial Museum	Shaoshan	Hunan	1
Liu Shaoqi Museum	Ningxiang	Hunan	1
Changsha Bamboo Slips Museum	Changsha	Hunan	3
Guangdong Museum	Guangzhou	Guangdong	1
Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King	Guangzhou	Guangdong	1
Museum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen	Zhongshan	Guangdong	1
Shenzhen Museum	Shenzhen	Guangdong	2
Guangzhou Museum	Guangzhou	Guangdong	3
Guangdong Folk Art Museum	Guangzhou	Guangdong	3
Guangxi Museum	Nanning	Guangxi	1
Guangxi Museum of Ethnicity	Nanning	Guangxi	3
Hainan Museum	Haikou	Hainan	2
Three Gorges Museum	Chongqing	Chongqing	1
Hongyan Revolution History Museum	Chongqing	Chongqing	2
Chongqing Museum of Natural History	Chongqing	Chongqing	3
Sanxingdui Museum	Chengdu	Sichuan	1
Deng Xiaoping Residence Museum	Guang'an	Sichuan	1
Zigong Dinosaur Museum	Zigong	Sichuan	1
Wuhou Temple Museum (Zhuge Liang's Museum)	Chengdu	Sichuan	1
Du Fu Thatched Cottage	Chengdu	Sichuan	1
Sichuan Museum	Chengdu	Sichuan	2
Jinsha Site Museum	Chengdu	Sichuan	2
Zigong Salt History Museum	Zigong	Sichuan	3
Zunyi Conference Museum	Zunyi	Guizhou	1
Yunnan Provincial Museum	Kunming	Yunnan	1
Yunnan Nationalities Museum	Kunming	Yunnan	1
Tibet Museum	Lhasa	Tibet	1
Shaanxi History Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	1
Terracotta Army Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	1
Yan'an Revolution Museum	Yan'an	Shaanxi	1
Han Yang Ling Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	1
Stele Forest Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	1
Banpo Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	1
Xi'an Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	2
Baoji Bronzeware Museum	Baoji	Shaanxi	3
Tang West Market Museum	Xi'an	Shaanxi	3
Gansu Provincial Museum	Lanzhou	Gansu	2
Tianshui Museum	Tianshui	Gansu	3
Dunhuang Research Academy	Dunhuang	Gansu	3
Guyuan Museum	Guyuan	Ningxia	1
Ningxia Museum	Yinchuan	Ningxia	2
Qinghai Museum	Xining	Qinghai	3
Xinjiang Museum	Ürümqi	Xinjiang	1
Turpan Museum	Turpan	Xinjiang	3