Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution displays restored military equipment from the history of the People’s Liberation Army, up to and including modern-day machinery.
The museum’s four floors include ten halls, the largest of which is the Hall of Weapons. The Hall’s extensive holdings of antiquated weaponry showcase domestic and foreign weapons, including blades, small arms, artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-air weaponry, jet fighters, rockets and rocket launchers, and cruise missiles. Foreign weapons include Soviet tanks purchased or donated during the 1950s and 1960s, American weaponry captured from the Kuomintang during the Chinese Civil War and from UN forces during the Korean War, and Japanese weaponry captured during the Sino-Japanese War. In addition, the Hall of Weapons displays equipment from China’s space program, such as satellites and a two-seat orbital capsule.
With two exceptions, the other halls are largely historical exhibits, combining plaster sculptures, maps, paintings, artifacts, movies, and plaques. The other nine halls include:
The Hall of the Agrarian Revolutionary War: Confrontations between 1927 and 1937 of the Chinese Communist Party and the ruling Kuomintang
The Hall of the War to Resist Japanese Aggression: The 1937-1947 Second Sino-Japanese War
The Hall of the War of Liberation of China: The 1945-1949 period of the Chinese Civil War
The Hall of Ancient Wars: Internal and external wars during the 4,000 years before the Qing Dynasty
The Hall of Modern Wars: Internal and external wars between 1840 and 1949
The Hall of National Defense and Army Building: Modern military achievements and developments since 1949
The Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea: Chinese involvement in the Korean War
The Hall of Presents: Gifts to the Chinese military or state by foreign militaries or states
The Hall of Cheng Yunxian’s Sculptural Arts: Plaster reproductions of sculptures of world leaders, historical figures, and scientists by Cheng Yunxian