Zhuhai museum

A few days ago I had an unexpected day off from work so I decided to go to Zhuhai straight from work, crossing the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau bridge and then checking into a hotel for the night. After a difficult sleep I made my way to the Zhuhai museum after breakfast. 

Once there, I was overwhelmed by a gigantic white, windowless concrete building, which gave me the impression I will do alot of walking that day.  Once inside, there were two exhibition spaces, the Zhuhai museum itself and the other an exhibition dedicated to the recent urban development of Zhuhai.  I opted for the former and entry to both parts was free.

The ground floor was dedicated to the 1980s post opening up of the city, which grew from fishing port to an industrial city on the mouth of the Pearl River.  As someone who has lived and worked in Zhuhai I already knew a bit about this.  It primarily thanks to former general secretary Deng Xiao Peng who established the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone which was the catalyst for this.

The first floor was about some of local folk customs and recent history, which is similar to the permanent display at Hong Kong history museum.  If featured some notable clans and their history in the area.  Just like Hong Kong, Zhuhai also had a salt making industry. 

The top floor displayed the history going back to the imperial dynasties and even stone age settlers in the area.  I wasn't as interested in this, so I made my way back downstairs.

My impressions was that the museum was impressive for anyone interested in history although it could do with more English text, especially on the artifacts. 

Next up, I went to the other wing to look at the urban development exhibition which to me felt more like a corporate presentation of the development work in the Greater Bay Area that happened in the last decade and a half. It was all to do with the building of impressive skyscrapers and how that equals development.  After about half an hour wandering up and down seven floors, I decided I had enough and went home. 

All in all, the Zhuhai museum is worth a day out but I would skip the urban development exhibition unless you are into pictures and videos of high tech buildings.