Běijīng World Art Museum 中华世纪坛世界艺术馆

复兴路甲9号
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of West of the Imperial City

This bizarre circular building, its tilted roof making it look like a giant sundial, is the Altar to the Century (中华世纪坛, China Century Altar), built at vast expense by the government to celebrate the ‘new millennium’ in 2000 — meaningless to a culture that does not share the Christian reference point and that began to use the Gregorian calendar only after 1949. But when everyone else was wasting millions on parties, and despite constant insistence on the glory, longevity, and general superiority of its own culture, China didn’t have the nerve not to join in and to let you know to whom the new millennium was going to belong.

Tickets can be bought at an office on the right shortly after turning up the left-hand side of the Military Museum, after which you can cross the road and walk north up through an area of gardens leading to the building, or carry on straight up and cross north to the main entrance.

The interior ring-shaped main exhibition space now holds temporary exhibitions of imported art and antiquities, which might include anything from classical statuary loaned by Italian museums to modern Scottish silverware. It’s largely deserted on weekdays, and not that busy on weekends either, and you may see some real treasures here in a peaceful atmosphere. Look at the website and at Běijīng listings magazines for details of exhibitions.

The rooftop holds a ring of statues of cultural celebrities from throughout Chinese history, many mentioned elsewhere in this book. There are views down to the giant China Century Bell in its own little pavilion on the east side, often with kite flyers sitting in its shade. This, the ‘largest copper bell in China’, was made at Běijīng’s now-banished major polluter, the Capital Iron and Steel Works. It was rung to welcome in the China Century at the end of 1999. Rather than the Sanskrit sutras found on traditional giant bells (see Great Bell Temple), this one has illustrations of ‘major historical events’ and the Chinese national anthem.

Yùyuān Tán Park 玉渊潭公园

The large park to the north of the Běijīng World Art Museum is Yùyuān Tán Gōngyuán, its lake also known as Bā-Yī Hú (八一湖), a reference to the official founding date of the People’s Liberation Army.

There’s a dock outside the park just to the right of the entrance with hourly boats to the Summer Palace (not winter). See the Summer Palace page for more details, but check for changes on arrival in Běijīng.

▶ Zhōnghuá Shìjì Tán Yìshùguǎn, Fùxīng Lù 9A, t 5980 2222, www.worldartmuseum.cn, 9am–4pm. Free. m Military Museum (Lines 1 & 6) exit B; Yùyuān Tán Park East Gate (Line 16). b to 军事博物馆: 1, 21, 65, 68, 78, 99, 308, 320, 320专线, 337, 388, 728.

Yùyuān Tán Gōngyuán, 6am–7pm winter; otherwise 8.30pm. ¥2 (¥10 flower shows). m Yùyuān Tán Park East Gate (Line 16).

Next in West of the Imperial City: South Church
Previously: Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.

For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.