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Beijing National Costume Museum

Written by Sally Guo Updated Jul. 12, 2021

As the first professional costume museum in China, the Beijing National Costume Museum was built in 2000. It is a comprehensive cultural research institute with a collection, exhibition, scientific research, and education combined perfectly as one. It boasts of being the best of its kind in China, where over 10,000 pieces of costume and accessories are well-retained, and more than 1,000 precious photos of the Yi, the Tibetan, and the Qiang ethnic minorities are available in the museum.

Famous Exhibition Halls in Beijing National Costume Museum

With an exhibition area of 2,000 square meters (21,528 square feet), the Beijing National Costume Museum is composed of seven exhibition halls, Ethnic Minority Costume Hall, Han Ethnic Costume Hall, Miao Ethnic Costume Hall, Metalworking and Jewelry Hall, Brocade & Embroidery & Batik Hall, Olympic Costume Hall, and Old Photo Hall.

Ethnic Minority Costume Hall

The costumes of the 56 ethnic minorities such as the Manchurians, the Tibetans, the Mongolians, and the Uighurs are exhibited in the Ethnic Minority Costume Hall, which is decorated with various kinds of accessories, including, golds, silvers, corals, jades, and rammels.

Brocade & Embroidery & Batik Hall

It has been a tradition for people from north China to spin woolen fabrics and the people from south China to spin cotton fabrics since ancient times, and brocades, embroideries, and batiks are widely used by the Chinese people to decorate their textile products, resulting in colorful kinds of costume. For those ancient ethnic minorities who had no writing records, the costume patterns fully depict their historical legends and folk customs, which have a high aesthetic value and practical value.

Miao Ethnic Costume Hall

Of all the ethnic minorities in South China, the Miao ethnic minority has the most colorful costume, which is decorated with various kinds of patterns such as butterflies, flying horses, the sun, the moon, and stars. The Miao ethnic costume is highlighted by batiks, embroideries, and silver ornaments.

Olympic Costume Hall

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games commanded the attention of the world, during which the Chinese culture was fully reflected by the costumes the Chinese people wore. Various kinds of costumes designed for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are exhibited in the Olympic Costume Hall, which reminds visitors how splendid the Beijing Olympic Games was.

Han Ethnic Costume Hall

The Han Ethnic Costume Hall dedicates itself to displaying various kinds of Han-ethnic costumes emerging from modern times, which gives visitors an overall introduction to the Han-ethnic costume with the help of text descriptions, diagrams, and photos. The Han ethnic costume is very unique in texture, color, design, and pattern, which reflects the elegant taste of the Han ethnic people toward costume.

Old Photo Hall

Many old photos taken in the 1930s are exhibited in the Old Photo Hall, which fully recreates the social history, politics, economy, religion, and folk customs of the Yi, the Qiang, and the Tibetan ethnic people, and they are of high historical value and ethnologic value.

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