If you're not particularly into stamps, why should you visit a museum about the post of all things? Well where the Shanghai Postal Museum is concerned the reasons are plentiful.
First of all the museum is housed inside the original 1931 Shanghai District Post Office building. This is a grand example of colonial architecture is listed as a key national historic site, so take a few minutes to admire it before even entering the museum. Inside the architecture will continue to impress with an impressive, newly renovated atrium roof that looks like the skeleton of a huge ship upside down.
The exhibitions are split into four parts taking you through the development of the post from ancient times, when fires were lit to communicate emergencies, to China's first systematic imperial post system in the Qing dynasty, to modern sort machines and futuristic “smart” mailboxes. Don't miss the uniquely dark green Chinese boxes used in imperial times with a dragon winding around it. Of course there's also an exhibition on stamps for the keen collectors out there.
Apart from the exhibitions themselves the real highlight of the museum may be its rooftop garden that looks more like a miniature golf course. Although you're not allowed on the grass you can still enjoy a wonderful view from here of the bund and Pudong from a prime location.
Best of all, the museum is currently free and relatively undiscovered——so catch it before the price, and the number of visitors go up.
Address: No.250, North Suzhou Road
Admission: currently free, but will go up to 10 yuan.
Telephone: 6362-9898
Open Hours: 9am-5pm (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday)
Traffic: Bus No.14, 17, 19, 21, 25, 65, 66, 220, 928, 939, and tour bus line 10 |
Asia Travel 
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