The museum sector is booming in Asia, with many new cultural institutions opening in the last few years. Museums in the region are also increasing their global market share when we look at the rankings of the world’s most-visited museums. In fact, eight Asian venues made our list of the world’s 20 most visited museums. Here, we take a look at the most visited museums in Asia.
The figures are from the TEA/AECOM 2023 Theme Index and Museum Index: The Global Attractions Attendance Report. This is presented in partnership with Storyland Studios.
Museums and cultural institutions in China dominate our list. China has plans to become a ‘museum powerhouse’ by 2035 by developing outstanding museums with Chinese features and attractions through a Museums of Excellence Development Plan. Chinese museums have been quick to adopt new technologies, including developing digital collectables as an alternative to NFTs.
This museum boom has meant that some notable museums in China did not make the list. The report gives special mention to the new Shanghai Astronomy Museum, reputedly the largest planetarium in the world and one of the best science museums in China, the Beijing Sound Art Museum, the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, and the Sui-Tang Dynasties Grand Canal Cultural Museum.
The 20 most visited museums in Asia
1 National Museum of China, Beijing, China
Located in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, this museum presents a huge swathe of Chinese history, beginning 1.7 million years ago and going up to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. It is home to over 1 million artefacts, many of which are rare and notable.
It is also one of the world’s largest museums, with 48 exhibition halls arranged over 65,000 square metres. As well as being the most visited museum in Asia, The National Museum of China was the third most visited museum in the world in 2023. Following some closures last year, it is likely to prove popular once again going forward.
Recent exhibitions include Mirrors of Eternity: A Cultural Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors, Paddling for a Thousand Miles: A Cultural Exhibition of the Grand Canal, Stand in the East: An Exhibition of Classic Fine Art Works and Light of Wisdom ：Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Exhibition
In 2022, the museum celebrated its 110th anniversary with a series of celebrations.
2023 attendance – 6,757,000
2022 attendance – 1,631,000
2 China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing, China
China Science and Technology Museum first opened in 1988 and was then extended in 2000. In 2006, it moved to a new location, ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics which took place in Beijing.
This museum came in at number 7 on our global list of the most visited museums. The museum explores STEM topics across five exhibition spaces and an area of 48,000 square meters. The permanent installations are Science Paradise, The Glory of China, Science & Technology, Life, Explorations and Discoveries and Challenges of the Future.
Beijing is set to become a ‘city of museums’ as part of a plan revealed in 2020. This will see its historic sites being enhanced in a bid to transform the city into a national cultural centre.
In 2023, the museum presented an interactive exhibition on China’s crewed space programme. This covered an area of about 2,000 square meters and included five sections, over 10 themed scenes and more than 30 artefacts.
2023 attendance – 5,315,000
2022 attendance – 1,431,000
Image courtesy of Jason Quinn via Wikimedia Commons
3 Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
This was one of the first museums to be established in China. It has undergone two major expansion projects since its launch, one in 1999 and the other in 2009. It featured at number 8 on our list of the world’s most visited museums.
Nanjing Museum is home to a permanent collection of over 400,000 pieces. This includes a vast display of imperial porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is another of China’s largest museums, covering an area of 70,000 square metres with 12 exhibition halls.
One of the highlights of the museum’s collection is a full-size jade suit of armour, laced with silver thread.
Nanjing Museum is one of a number of Chinese museums look to technology to navigate surging demand. It has been exploring creating digital museums and galleries, with virtual displays and online exhibitions being used to reach audiences who cannot secure admission tickets.
2023 attendance – 5,007,000
2022 attendance – 1,610,000
4 Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China
The Suzhou Museum was founded in 1960 and is dedicated to the promotion of Jiangnan history, art and culture. Its extensive collections include over 15,000 objects and range from archaeological relics to calligraphy and folk art.
Exhibits span multiple dynasties and showcase the evolution of Chinese art and craftsmanship. Of particular note are the objects from the Ming and Qing dynasties, which reflect the prosperity and cultural achievements of the region.
Aside from its permanent collections, the museum shows touring exhibitions from institutions such as the British Museum.
The museum was one of the first national museums in China to offer free entry. It seeks to serve the public through a programme of exhibitions and enhanced services, resulting in an impressive number of prestigious award wins.
Suzhou Museum was originally housed in the historic Zhong Wang Fu (Prince Zhong’s mansion), an extraordinary architectural complex complete with gardens. A new museum opened in 2006, designed by architect I.M. Pei to combine classical Chinese and Suzhou architecture with modern elements.
Its architecture features whitewashed walls, grey tiled roofs, and serene water features. The layout draws from traditional Chinese garden principles, to create tranquil spaces set with courtyards, ponds, and carefully curated landscaping.
2023 attendance – 4,852,000
2022 attendance – 1,417,000
5 Hunan Museum, Changsha, China
The Hunan Museum first opened to the public in 1956. In 2012, it closed for a major redevelopment and extension project, and reopened in 2017. Since the expansion, it now covers an area of 50,000 square metres.
The collection includes over 180,000 items, and includes some of the most precious cultural and historical relics in China. This includes artefacts from the tomb of Lady Dai (wife of the Marquis of Dai), which is more than 2,000 years old. When the museum reopened in 2017, it included the first tomb projection in China, supported by 14 Christie projectors.
In 2023, it opened a temporary display of archaeological pieces from the ancient civilisations of Mexico.
2023 attendance – 4,398,000
2022 attendance – 1,221,000
6 Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan, China
The Hubei Provincial Museum is home to more than 200,000 objects, including the Sword of Goujian, in addition to key artefacts from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. It was founded in 1953.
The building covers over 42,000 square meters and is home to more than 13,400 square metres of exhibition space.
A highlight for visitors is a performance of ancient Chu music. The Hubei Provincial Museum also holds a set of 2,400-year-old chime-bells from this era, one of which is believed to be the heaviest musical instrument in the world.
2023 attendance – 4,300,000
2022 attendance – 1,000,000
Image courtesy of Keitma – stock.adobe.com
7 National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
The National Museum of Korea is one of the largest museums in Asia, as well as being one of the most visited. In fact, it is the sixth-largest museum in the world in terms of floor space, covering more than 295,000 square metres.
It dates back to 1945 but moved to a new building in 2005. This museum holds South Korea’s most significant collection of history and art. It is home to over 310,000 pieces, around15,000 of which are on display. The six permanent exhibition galleries cover prehistory and ancient history, medieval and early modern history, calligraphy, painting, sculpture and more.
Incheon Airport, the largest airport in South Korea is also home to a branch of the National Museum of Korea.
In 2019, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced plans to build 140 museums and 46 art galleries by 2023.
The museum hosted an exhibition of artworks from the collection of The National Gallery in London in 2023. This featured 52 paintings encompassing the Renaissance, Baroque and post-impressionism from the early 20th century.
In 2024, four new museums were announced for Sejong. These institutions include a national urban architecture museum, a design museum, a digital cultural heritage centre, and a national archives museum.
2023 attendance – 4,180,000
2022 attendance – 3,411,000
8 Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou, China
Guangdong Museum is located in an extraordinary purpose built venue, with architecture that resembles resembles an intricately carved ivory box. It moved to this landmark building in Zhujiang New Town in 2010, where it shows one of South China’s most distinctive and extensive collections.
The museum was founded in 1959 and cares for over 166,000 artefacts, with ancient calligraphy, painting, cultural relics, and more among its treasures. A regularly changing programme of temporary exhibitions is accompanied by permanent displays.
Natural history galleries present fossils, minerals, and exhibits of the province’s unique flora and fauna, providing insight into the region’s biodiversity. The art section features traditional Chinese paintings, ceramics, and crafts, while the Cantonese culture galleries explore Guangdong’s distinctive traditions, including Cantonese opera, cuisine, and the signature Lingnan architectural style.
Guangdong is home to an array of innovative cultural institutions, including the Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, and Guangdong Literature Museum, which recently worked with Christie to transform the way that audiences engage with cultural narratives.
2023 attendance – 4,000,000
2022 attendance – 3,360,000
9 Chengdu Museum, Chengdu, China
Chengdu Museum is a multi-award winning institution in southwest China. The museum was founded in 1958, and in 2006 was given the official title of the National Shadow Puppetry Museum. Its permanent puppetry exhibitions include over 200 exhibits exploring the history of puppetry in China, alongside a gallery dedicated to shadow play folk art. These galleries are accompanied by displays on Chengdu’s rich history and culture, and nature and conservation.
Temporary exhibitions, a pioneering children and families programme, and extensive collaborations with schools and cultural institutions are also provided by the organisation.
Chengdu is known for its exceptional cultural offer, including the Chengdu Giant Panda Museum, which opened in 2021. In 2023, d’strict announced plans to open an immersive art venue in the city.
2023 attendance – 3,100,000
2022 attendance – 1,405,000
Image courtesy of 来斤小仓鼠吧, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
10 Tianjin Natural History Museum, Tianjin, China
Tianjin Natural History Museum was founded in 1914 when it was known as the Hoangho Paiho Museum. The musuem holds more than 380,000 specimens across three floors and a total area of 12,000 square metres.
It has undergone several name changes and renovations over the years. The current building, in the Tianjin Cultural Centre, opened in 2014.
Visitors can see several dinosaur skeletons, as well as a cast of a T-Rex. The museum’s permanent exhibitions span from early life on earth through to the modern era. It also explores ecology and the planet’s differing ecosystems.
2023 attendance – 3,074,000
2022 attendance – 1,321,000
Image courtesy of Jonathan Chen via Wikimedia Commons
11 National Maritime Museum of China, Tianjin, China
National Maritime Museum of China sits on the bay in Tainjin’s Binhai New Area, and is the largest maritime museum in the world. The ocean inspired building was designed by COX Architecture, an Australia-based practice which also created the Oman Across Ages museum.
With a combined floorspace of 80,000 square metres, its five wings fan out to overlook the bay, and are accompanied by two long jetties.
Inside, six display areas and 15 connected galleries tell the story of China’s maritime evolution, and explore themes of “the ancient ocean,” “ocean today,” “journey of discovery” and “the age of the dragon”.
2023 attendance – 2,900,000
2022 attendance – 508,000
Image courtesy Amazingloong, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
12 M+, Hong Kong, SAR of China
M+, a vast museum of 20th and 21st century visual culture in Hong Kong, opened in November 2021. The 65,000 square metre building is home to 33 galleries, three cinemas, a mediatheque, a learning hub and a research centre, alongside amenities including retail, F&B, and a garden offering views of the Hong Kong skyline. Outside, the museum’s LED façade provides a screen for moving image works.
Suhanya Raffel, M+ director, told blooloop: “We are a new museum. But we are not only building a museum, we’re also establishing an institution, which is very unique, given the scale of what we’re doing. Contemporary visual culture is something that is very special to Asia. And we will be the first institution that spans those interests on this scale for Asia.”
“It is our collections, our digital work, our publications and our research that are really driving our content,” added Raffel. “We do think about ourselves as multidisciplinary and we are imagining, inventing and interpreting what is the new Asian canon. Up to now, the Euro American canon has been so well established.
“We feel very strongly that we need meaningful, informed and authoritative voices coming out of our parts of the world, that bring very clear art historical, social relations, design and architecture histories to the highest level of presentations in our museum.”
2023 attendance – 2,798,000
2022 attendance – 2,034,000
13 Shanghai Natural History Museum, Shanghai, China
This museum dates back to 1956, when it was established in the Shanghai Cotton Exchange Building. In 2015, it moved to a new location in the Jing’an Sculpture Park, in a purpose-built 40,000 square metre building.
The architecture is inspired by the shell structure of snails and features eco-friendly green roof technology.
Inside, visitors can see a four-storey-high, 140-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton, alongside rare species such as a Yellow River mammoth, a Yangtze Alligator and a giant panda. In total, the museum holds around 240,000 items and specimens.
The museum opened China’s inaugural deep sea-themed exhibition in 2022. This display included a recreation of a cold-water coral forest with dozens of rare specimens from the deep sea.
In 2024, the museum partnered with technology powerhouse Lenovo to create digital models of three specimens – the Yangtze river baiji dolphin, the fin whale, and the mammoth, using spatial computing and AI.
2023 attendance – 2,792,000
2022 attendance – 532,000
14 National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan
This national museum consists of six venues, covering a total of 89,000 square metres. This includes a Space Theatre, Science Centre, Life Science Hall, Human Cultures Hall, Global Environment Hall, and Botanical Garden.
It first opened in 1986 and now holds more than 551,000 specimens in its collection. The permanent exhibitions cover themes such as astronomy, ecology, space, palaeontology, tropical plants and more, and the museum also hosts temporary exhibitions.
To encourage STEM learning, it provides several hands-on and interactive exhibits for visitors of all ages. Recent exhibitions include Climate Action: Our Future, Our Choice.
2023 attendance – 2,738,000
2022 attendance – 2,300,000
Image courtesy Richie Chan – stock.adobe.com
15 National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, Keelung, Taiwan
National Museum of Marine Science and Technology (NMMST) is the largest aquarium in northern Taiwan. Its mission to inspire its visitors to learn about, engage with, and protect the ocean is accompanied by its role as a key ‘sustainable ocean’ innovation centre, bringing together marine science and smart technology.
The main building consists of eight galleries which explore various facets of marine science, engineering and conservation and includes a dedicated children’s zone. The museum is also home to Taiwan’s largest IMAX 3D movie theatre.
Its education programme is extensive, with regular children’s camps that enable kids to become an underwater archaeologist, build remote controlled boats with their grown ups, make shark inspired crafts, and more.
In 2023, an AI Aquarium developed by Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) went on show at NMMST. The interactive exhibit uses artificial intelligence to recognise aquatic species and display information about them in a user-friendly interface.
2023 attendance – 2,726,000
2022 attendance – 2,582,000
Image courtesy of BINGJHEN – stock.adobe.com
16 Henan Museum, Zhengzhou, China
Henan Museum offers an extraordinary insight into the culture of China, its central plain, and the Yellow River.
The museum, founded in 1927, moved into its new building in 1998. It is now the biggest centre for exhibitions, conservation, and research in China, with a collection of over 170,000 objects. Permanent exhibitions explore the history of the central plain area, the illustrious history of Henan province, works in bronze and stone, and treasures from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Zhengzhou’s attractions also include the largest immersive theatre complex in the world, known as Unique Henan – Land of Drama, which opened in 2021, Zhengzhou Fantawild Adventure, which opened in 2012, and Zhengzhou Fantawild Water Park, which launched in 2014.
2023 attendance – 2,700,000
2022 attendance – 640,000
Image courtesy of gongfu_king, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
17 Zhejiang Museum, Hangzhou, China
This museum, which added a new Wulin branch in 2009, is home to ivory artefacts, pottery, woodenware, bone tools and lacquerware. It also has a large collection of jade items, porcelain, bronzes and gold and silver coins, as well as paintings and calligraphy.
In addition to the Wulin and Gushan sites, the Zhejiang Museum also includes Huang Binhong Memorial at Qixia Ridge, the former residence of Sha Menghai on Longyou Road, and the Research Centre for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage at Gudang. In total, it has a combined total floor space of over 40,000 square metres.
2023 attendance – 2,624,000
2022 attendance – 874,000
Image, Jade ring from the Majiabang culture (7,000–6,000 years ago), courtesy of Zhejiang Museum
18 Shangdong Museum, Jinan, China
Visitors to Shangdong Museum can explore exhibitions on the rich history, nature, and art of the province, housed in a new, 82,900 square metre building which opened in 2010.
One highlight of the vast collection is the Shantungosaurus skeleton, a huge dinosaur which is believed to have measured approximately 15 metres in length, and have 1,500 tiny teeth.
2023 attendance – 2,540,000
2022 attendance – 962,000
Image courtesy of Vitsuha, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
19 National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan
The National Museum of Nature and Science is located in Tokyo’s Ueno Park. It first opened in 1987, although over time it has undergone numerous renovations and name changes.
The museum’s exhibitions explore the history, nature, wildlife and people of Japan. It also looks at global biodiversity, progress in science and technology, the age of the dinosaurs and more. In addition, it is home to Theatre 360. This is a 360 degree movie theatre in the round, for which the museum has created seven original films.
In 2022, it showed the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition. This included enormous sculptures exploring what different Pokémon fossils might look like, exhibited alongside real dinosaur fossils.
2023 attendance – 2,500,000
2022 attendance – 1,843,000
20 National Taiwan Science Education Center, Taipei, Taiwan
The National Taiwan Science Education Center was founded in 1956 and moved to a new 10-storey building in 2003. It home to several temporary and permanent exhibition galleries, as well as laboratories, theatres and a restaurant.
This museum features numerous high-tech and interactive exhibits which aim to make learning about science fun and engaging. Subjects covered include natural and earth sciences, material sciences, life sciences and maths. There is also a robot education centre.
The National Taiwan Science Education Center’s mission is to promote the teaching of STEM subjects throughout the country.
2023 attendance – 2,468,000
2022 attendance – 1,879,000
Image courtesy of Richie Chan, stock.adobe.com
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