This museum in the Main Post Office building explores postal history in imperial China, which dates back to the 1st millennium BC. The system used an extensive pony express to relay messages; Marco Polo estimated there were 10,000 postal stations in 13th-century China. Check out the collection of pre- and post-Liberation stamps (1888–1978) in a special climate-controlled room. You can also inspect a historic mail-train carriage and two old post vans, one horse-drawn, plus a recreation of a Qing dynasty mail room.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Main Post Office

0.02 MILES

Overlooking Suzhou Creek, this supremely grand building dates from 1924. It's topped with a cupola and clock tower, and ornamented with bronze statues…

2. Art + Shanghai

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This riverside gallery shows mainly local artists and is a good place to get a feel for the contemporary Chinese art scene.

3. Embankment Building

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Designed by architects Palmer & Turner and dating back to 1935, this art deco landmark was first built for real-estate magnate Sir Victor Sassoon. Though…

4. Levant Art

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In the Rockbund district, this commercial gallery is devoted to contemporary sculpture by Chinese and overseas artists.

5. Former British Consulate

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The original British Consulate was one of the first foreign buildings to go up in Shanghai in 1852, though it was destroyed in a fire and replaced with…

6. Broadway Mansions

0.28 MILES

Looming over Suzhou Creek, this classic brick pile (resembling a Ministry of Truth) was built to great fanfare in 1934 as an apartment block and was later…

7. Rockbund Art Museum

0.28 MILES

Housed in the magnificent former Royal Asiatic Society building (1932) – once Shanghai's first museum – this world-class gallery behind the Bund focuses…

8. Magda Danysz Gallery

0.28 MILES

Well worth a cultural diversion, this bold and vibrant art space for both emerging and established Chinese and international names is twinned with its…