China Printing Museum

Speaking of printing, you will probably come up with images of books, modern mass production, and also some fancy machinery. But at the China Printing Museum, you can find something different: one of the most ancient forms of printing on the shelf, with all the different characters, what you do is pick out the characters you need, you put it here, line them up, and this is served as the blueprint for the print.

China Printing Museum is divided into various halls. One contains exhibits of the origins of printing and ancient printing methods, one traces the progress of modern printing, and another houses new technology and equipment exhibits. The museum also contains three specialized exhibition areas. All the halls are distributed over three floors, with a total exhibition area of 3,000 square meters. In the reception area stands a statue of Bi Sheng, inventor of movable-type printing. The hall that traces the origins of printing, including the culture, technology and materials that gave rise to the invention of printing in China, is on the third floor. The ancient printing section in this hall has chronologically ordered exhibits showing the stages of invention and applications of woodblock and movable-type printing, how printing developed and improved in its technology and materials, giving viewers an insight into China's long printing history. The hall of modern printing outlines developments in printing technology in modern times. The first section is devoted to the evolution of the four types of printing technology -- relief, planography, intaglio, and stencil printing. The second part is mainly concerned with developments and achievements in printing since the founding of China in 1949. In the hall of new technology and equipment, which combines exhibits with marketing, are displays of China's new achievements in pre-printing technology, and exhibits of the latest pre-printing, printing, and post-printing equipment and materials. It also gives space to the newest international achievements in printing technologies and current development trends.

Features: The museum has three specialized exhibition areas. The Securities Exhibition Area and the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Exhibition Area contain exhibits that look at the history and current state of printing. The Selected Samples Room displays various print samples. They include specimens of ancient engraved wood block printing, and extracts from a rare movable-type printed book, as well as examples of contemporary books, albums, and print used for trademarks and negotiable securities.

Take Bus No. 410, 456, 610, 631, 937, 954, 957, or 968 to Qing Yuanxili Stop.