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Museums and galleries in Harbin

10 museums and galleries in Harbin, from the big collections to small independent spaces.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

Museums and galleries in Harbin

  1. See

    Harbin Confucius Temple

    哈尔滨文庙

    This Confucius temple is one of the largest of its kind in northeast China. The Heilongjiang Museum of Nationalities can be found inside the temple.

    08ː30-16ː30, closed on WednesdaysFree

  2. See

    Heilongjiang Art Museum

    黑龙江省美术馆

    A provincial art museum founded in 1962, housed in a three-story European-style building from the 19th century. Its collection focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese art, especially woodblock prints from the Beidahuang and Heilongjiang schools. The museum also holds a significant collection of Russian oil paintings.

    09ː00-16ː00Free

  3. See

    Heilongjiang Provincial Museum

    黑龙江省博物馆 Hēilóngjiāngshěng Bówùguǎn

    A comprehensive museum housing Heilongjiang's history, nature, and art collections. Permanent exhibitions include "Heilongjiang Historical Relics," "Natural History," and the "Harbin Past — Early 20th Century Social Life" exhibition, which recreates scenes of the city a century ago. Built in 1922, the museum is a landmark of Harbin.

    October 8th to March 31st: 9AM-4PM; April 1st to October 7th: 9AM-4:30PMFree (but remember to bring your ID)

  4. Buy

    Hongbo Century Square

    红博世纪广场

    Not to be confused with the underground market, this is a huge mall in the basement of the Harbin exhibition center. There is also a fried chicken chain from Texas. There are daily fashion model shows.

  5. See

    St. Sophia Cathedral

    圣索非亚教堂 Shèngsuǒfēiyà Jiàotáng

    One of the few still standing Orthodox churches in the city. It is now converted into a Harbin Museum of Architecture. Inside there are exhibitions of many photographs from old times. Definitely worth going into, however, if you are used to European Churches do not expect the quality.

    ¥20

  6. See

    The Liao & Jin History Museum of Heilongjiang

    黑龙江辽金历史博物馆

    As the name indicates, this museum focuses on the history of the Liao and Jin dynasties. It is said to contain over 10,000 artefacts.

    Closed · opens 9:30 am¥60

  7. See

    Unit 731 Museum

    侵华日军第七三一部队罪证陈列馆 Qīnhuá Rìjūn Dì Qī Sān Yāo Bùduì Zuìzhèng Chénlièguǎn

    A museum at the site of a former bio-chemical weapons research and testing facility built by the Japanese army during World War II and used to perform experiments on over 10,000 civilians and POWs. The museum tells the story of these individuals. The displays are very extensive with detailed information in both Chinese and English, though you may struggle to see everything due to the very large number of people that typically visit the museum. After looking around the museum, you may then visit the actual buildings where Unit 731 carried out its notorious research, including the main administration building and the burnt-out remains of the prison facilities.

    09:00-17:30 (April 15 to October 15); 09:00-16:30 (October 16 to April 14); last entry is one hour before closing time; the museum is completely closed on MondaysFree

  8. See

    Zhongyang Dajie

    中央大街 Zhōngyāng Dàjiē; lit. Central Avenue

    This cobblestone lined street is a pedestrian only street that could serve as a perfect remnant of the bustling international business activities at the turn of the 20th century. The 1.4-km long street is a veritable museum of European architectural styles, including Baroque and Byzantine façades, Jewish architectural wonders, a Russian restaurant, French fashion houses (Fake Chinese Brands), American snack food outlets (Mcdonalds and KFC and a Chinese owned "American Bar"), and a Japanese restaurant. In winter, one can walk out onto the ice or take a dog sledge or horse sledge ride. It is the prettiest site in Harbin as far as the city itself is concerned, however, if you go mid-day during the weekend be prepared to push through the crowds.

    Pretty much closes by 22:00 (weekend nights included)Free

  9. See Not mapped

    Huining Fu

    A few kilometres south of Acheng centre, you'll find the ruins of, the capital of the 12th century Jin dynasty. It's been declared a national historic reserve, and apart from the ruined city walls there's a museum on the site as well.

  10. See

    Heilongjiang Science and Technology Museum

    黑龙江省科学技术馆

    1458 Taiyang Avenue, Songbei District (松北区太阳大道1458号)

    09ː00-16ː00, closed on MondaysFree

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Harbin (CC BY-SA 4.0).