The Museum
Entry is free (unless you want to poke around the missile boat out the front, Y5), but being China, you still need to line up, take a ticket, and have that ticket taken off you at the door. There are a few things to see before going inside though, some typical Communist sculpture similar to that of Tiananmen Square, the aforementioned boat, some old cannons, and an early Chinese ballistic missile, a DF-2.
Dong Feng (East Wind) 2 MRBM. Sitting on what appeared to be a TEL trailer, with launch support and possibly a crane not visible in this picture.
Entering the museum, one is greeted by a large statue of Chairman Mao, in a hall with large, Cultural Revolution-era artwork, some field artillery pieces, Mao's car, and a MiG-15. This hall opens up into the main area of the museum, the Hall of Weapons.
The aptly-named Hall of Weapons.
The centrepiece of the hall is a DF-1, China's first ballistic missile (much larger than the DF-2). On one side are armoured vehicles (all MADE IN CHINA), and on the other are Chinese fighter aircraft, from the pig-snouted J-5 (based on MiG-17) to the more slender J-8 (not the J-8II still in active service, but the older version with MiG-21 style engine intake).
From left to right: J-8, J-7, J-6, J-5. Hard to get them all in the same shot from the front.
Along the side walls are collections of anti-aircraft guns and mortars. These are from a wide range of countries, mostly WW2 vintage - many captured Japanese weapons and loaned/bought American and European weapons. Either side of the hall are covered outdoor areas. The first I went to was densely packed with armoured vehicles. A lot of WW2-era US, Canadian and Soviet vehicles here. Unfortunately it looks like most of these have been sitting there since then and have collected 60-odd years of dust. However, in the centre is an area where you can climb in some antiaircraft guns and an old Chinese tank.
Resisting Japanese aggression.
American WW2 armour, one of these is a Sherman (second-closest I think).
Through the hall, and out the other side, was the other covered outdoor area - this one focusing on aircraft. Fewer people here, but I thought this was more interesting. There were a few MiG-15s (all described as "Exploit Fighters", which I eventually figured out means they did something exceptional), and a few WW2 and Korean War aircraft from other countries - of note, an F-80 Sabre with ROC markings, a P-51, and a Tu-2 bomber. However, without question the most interesting thing here (possibly the whole museum) was the remains of a ROC U-2 shot down over China.
Tail number 3512, probably shot down by a SAM (possibly a HQ-2, a few of which are on display as well) trying to take pictures of nuclear test facilities in Gansu or Xinjiang.
I went back into the main hall - still 3 more floors inside to check out. Upstairs is a collection of sculpture from the Mao era. Busts of the Chairman, along with many other important Communists and other figures from Chinese history are shown here. There are also some sculptures of Mao in heroic, and down-to-earth poses.
I didn't stay here long - it was quite eerie.
Leaving the sculptures, I found that there was still a large section of the Hall of Weapons upstairs - mostly small arms. There are walls of everything from heavy machine guns to disguised pistols. Again, lots of old equipment through here. Some interesting historical pieces, with rifles and pistols going back to the 19th century and earlier, and even a collection of swords. Further on, the munitions get larger, with air-to-air missiles, torpedoes, depth charges, and an interesting (at least for me) full ATGM kit.
Display dedicated to designer Fedor Tokarev. There are similar displays for Samuel Colt and Geoige (sic) Luger.
Unfortunately not long after this, my camera batteries gave out, so I have no more pictures after this. Further up, there are historical exhibits, of ancient wars and weapons (including rocket artillery from the 14th century). There is also a hall to wars of the modern era, from the 19th century onwards, telling the story of the inept Qing dynasty and the foreign powers carving up China (the language used to describe these events is what you would expect of China - but considering the events of the Opium wars, it fits). There is also a very large area dedicated to the "war against Japanese aggression" and the civil war. Very interesting, but many exhibits throughout the museum are poorly explained, even missing Chinese explanations in some parts.
The last thing to see was the Hall of Presents - where gifts given to officers of the PLA eventually end up. They are organised by continent of origin - unsurprisingly, pieces in the Europe section are mostly from Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. This is a nice cultural display - those gifts which are not purely militaristic (like my favourite, the gold submachine gun from Jordan) are mostly local artworks. The Asia and Africa sections are interesting for this reason. Some are politically interesting - a few plaques from Somalia, traditional Korean gifts from North Korea, and the sheer number of Japanese gifts (and dearth of South Korean gifts) among these. Where else could you find a plaque with Hebrew and a Star of David above a Chinese flag?
I headed to the souvenir shop after this - the other Hall of Presents. They range from the expected (models of Chinese aircraft and tanks), to the expensive (full-size replica machine gun, Y3600), to the strange (belt buckles adorned with the red star of the PLA). Almost everything here was well out of my price range - nothing was both interesting and below Y120. The good side is, I didn't spend anything except on my subway ride there and back.
On returning to the campus, I was greeted by some of my Latin friends carrying groceries - there was to be a barbeque tonight on our floor with all the Spanish speakers (apparently "como estas" counts, so I was there). Of course, there was no barbeque until the others showed up with a tiny charcoal grill, which we set up on the balcony. After some effort getting the thing going (with a bag of coal possibly from the Muslim restaurant) we eventually had 10 or so people on the balcony (or more accurately, fire escape), feasting on slices of steak and talking (not that I could understand what they were saying).
Authentic Brazillian cuisine on the 13th floor.
I have plans for tomorrow now - going to Tianjin with some classmates. Tomorrow is a public holiday, for Qingming festival (not Easter), and Tianjin is a coastal city near Beijing, reachable by high-speed train in only half an hour (one of the fastest trains in China, hitting 330km/hr). Of course, I have fresh batteries in the camera and will post all about Tianjin when we get back - I hear Tianjin can be done in a day, and if not, it's easy to go there again.
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