CHILDREN return to school this month, but their education doesn’t have to stop at the classroom door. The Songjiang District has more than 60 museums providing venues for family excursions that are both fun and enlightening.

The district’s museums cover a wide range of subjects, with something for everyone. Whether your interest is astronomy, weather, chocolate or ancient culture, there are venues that turn knowledge into an exciting experience. Most of the museums are free. Others have nominal charges.

Shanghai Daily ventured into some of the more interesting museums on our doorstep.

Songjiang Museum

This museum traces 5,500 years of the district’s history.

It was founded in 1915, and its façade retains an old-style, inviting architecture of upturned eaves, whitewashed walls and grey-tile roofs.

Inside are more than 5,000 pieces of porcelain, jade, wooden sculpture, bronze vessels and gold accessories. In addition, the museum holds about 2,000 ancient books, including some in priceless block-print editions.

During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, Songjiang was an economic and cultural center of China — a place renowned for its artists and scholars. It was also a major cotton center that provided much of the clothing of the day.

Visitors to the museum often marvel at how well this art collection evokes a glorious past.

The museum displays the country’s only engraved stone portrait of Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), a favorite imperial calligrapher, and China’s oldest and the most complete engraved stone slab depicting the ancient history of Shanghai.

There’s also a stele ordered by the Kangxi Emperor (1654-1722) and a rich collection of ink paintings and calligraphy pieces by great masters like Zhao Mengfu and Dong Qichang (1555-1636), both Songjiang natives.

The museum has two floors. The first is dedicated to seasonal art exhibitions, while the second floor displays the museum’s standing collection.

One of the biggest highlights is a bronze Buddha statue, embossed in gold and dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It was discovered in 1965 in the district’s Tongbotang River. About 17 centimeters high and 470 grams in weight, the statue features delicate carving and a vivid facial expression.

Another must-see is a bronze cannon, excavated in Sijing Town in 1971. It is 96 centimeters long with a 6-centimeter inner diameter. The 100-kilogram cannon was used in the Taiping rebellion (1850-64).

Songjiang was once home to the Guangfulin culture, and an underground tomb site in the district was unearthed to reveal cooking vessels and tools used by forebears about 2,000 years ago. In the museum, visitors can view some of the skeletons of animals discovered at the site as well as many of the vessels that were excavated.

Address: 233 Zhongshan Rd E.

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 9am–4pm

Admission: Free

Shanghai Astronomy Museum

Atop scenic Sheshan Hill is the Shanghai Astronomy Museum, the site of the Sheshan Observatory Station built by French Jesuits in 1899. The building, in French-style architecture, was converted into a museum in 2004.

The museum is divided into two areas. One displays the timeline of achievements in Chinese astronomy, while the other zone focuses on international scientific exchanges. Exhibits narrate the introduction of Western astronomy to China and explain how modern Chinese astronomy evolved.

Among the popular exhibits is a collection of astronomical instruments, including a binocular refracting telescope, one of China’s oldest, with a diameter of 40 centimeters and a focal length of 7 meters. In 1898, a priest named Stanislaus Chevaliev raised funds to bring the telescope to China from Paris. At the time, it was the largest telescope in East Asia.

In 1901, the Sheshan Observatory was opened, and Chevaliev became its first leader. The observatory underwent major renovation in 2013 and reopened to the public in 2014.

Address: Western Sheshan Hill

Hours: Daily, 8:30am-4:30pm

Admission: 12 yuan

Shanghai Earthquake Museum

The museum at the Sheshan Hill resort was established in 2001 by the Shanghai Earthquake Administration and the Sheshan Seismic Station.

It contains China’s largest collection of old seismic instruments. Some 20 of the instruments are more than 100 years old, including the Ali Ott magnetometer, first used in 1882. It is one of only two in the world; the other is in London.

In 2004, the exhibition area of the museum was expanded to include video exhibitions and information on emergency rescue drills. There is also an exhibition honoring Zhang Heng (78–139 AD), who invented the world's first seismometer and the first water-powered armillary sphere to assist astronomical observation.

Address: Western Sheshan Hill, inside the Sheshan Seismic Station

Hours: Daily, 9am-4pm

Admission: Free

Songjiang Meteorological Science Museum

The museum comprises both a weather station and an exhibition area.

In the weather station, visitors can see how daily weather data are collected and processed. Scientific equipment — including sophisticated rain gauges, thermometers, geothermal sensors and visibility-monitoring machines ­— is on display here.

In the exhibition area, visitors may host a weather forecast in front of a camera, or they can turn a sunny day into a storm with interactive technology.

Address: 8 Nanqing Rd

Hours: Daily, 9am-4pm

Admission: Free

Tel: 6773-9161

Songjiang Sisai Bass Culture and
Technology Museum

Located on the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, this 6.9-hectare museum site is dedicated to protecting a fish species that was rescued from oblivion in the 1980s.

The Songjiang bass, each about 17 centimeters long and weighing 100 grams, is famous for its succulent meat and lack of boniness. The orange branchial arches near its breathing gills give it the appearance of having an extra set of gills — hence the name sisai, which translates as “four gills” in Chinese.

The museum is also a sisai bass farm, where the fish are raised organically. If you visit at the right time, you can watch fish laying their roe.

Address: 1082 Fuyong Rd

Hours: Daily, 9am-4pm

Admission: Free

Tel: 5773-5257

Yuanheng Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum

As Shanghai’s first traditional medicine museum, Yuanheng looks at Chinese herbal remedies used in veterinary medicine. It also tells the histories of renowned practitioners.

In addition, there is a small “street” on the museum grounds that shows visitors how to use medicinal herbs in cooking to treat various ailments.

Address: 18 Yerong Rd, Yexie Town

Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9am-4:30pm

Admission: Free

Tel: 3769-1103

Shanghai Agricultural Science Museum (Songjiang)

This museum is dedicated to the history of agriculture on the southern banks of the Yangtze River.

As old center of China cotton, clothing and granaries, Songjiang was an agricultural hub for centuries. The museum’s seven exhibition halls trace agricultural development. Old farm tools no longer used today are on display.

Address: 1 Xishe Rd, Wushe Agricultural Park

Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4pm

Admission: Free

Tel: 5787-8181

Shanghai Eco Construction Materials Museum

The museum, with both inside and outdoor exhibitions, is aimed at promoting the use of environmentally friendly materials in construction and interior décor. Its exhibits reveal how the use of energy-saving materials and household appliances can enhance the environment, and they also focus on wind and solar energy.

Address: 2058 Cheting Rd, Yexie Town

Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm

Admission: Free

Tel: 5058-8111

Meiji Dairies (Shanghai)

The Japanese-based milk and chocolate producer operates factory tours for the public. It is primarily aimed at students. With photos, videos and production line tours, the factory shows children the origin of chocolate and how a bar of chocolate is made and packaged.

Address: 1111 Xinfei Rd

Hours: Monday-Friday (July-January), 9am-3pm

Admission: 15 yuan

Tel: 6760-1212 (for group tours only)

Cangqiao Pear Park Museum

Sweet, juicy and large. Songjiang’s Cangqiao pears have won not only national awards but also the hearts of Shanghai fruit lovers. Every summer, the orchards on the northern banks of the upper Huangpu River are filled with ripe pears.

The 30-hectare orchard, famed for producing quality pears with tender, crispy flesh and mouth-watering sweetness, includes a museum that shows the history, cultivation techniques and medicinal uses of the famed pears.

Visitors are invited to join the Pear Club, entitling them to adopt a pear tree and harvest its fruit.

Address: 2000 Fuyong Rd

Hours: Daily, 8am-4pm

Admission: Free

Tel: 5773-5777