Shanghai Astronomy Museum

Opened in 2021 in the Lingang new town, the Shanghai Astronomy Museum covers around thirty-nine thousand square metres and is described as the largest planetarium in the world by floor area. The architects, Ennead, built it without straight lines: three curved forms, an oculus, an inverted dome and a sphere, arranged so that sunlight moving through them marks the passage of the day and the solstices, making the building itself an astronomical instrument. Inside are meteorites, a Foucault pendulum, immersive galleries on the solar system and cosmology, an optical planetarium theatre and a solar telescope. Tickets are capped and released online in advance, and slots disappear quickly.

What you actually see

• The building - three curved forms designed to track sunlight through the year.
• The meteorite collection - specimens including lunar and Martian material.
• The planetarium theatre - the optical dome shows.
• The immersive galleries - solar system and cosmology exhibitions.

When to go

Year-round, since it is indoors; the museum closes on Mondays. Tickets are released online a set number of days ahead and sell out, particularly at weekends and holidays. Weekday mornings are calmest.

Honest expectations

Booking is required and the process is difficult for foreign visitors without a Chinese payment app. The site is seventy kilometres from central Shanghai, over an hour each way. Interpretation is largely in Chinese.

Nearby

Dishui Lake and the Lingang new town surround it; central Shanghai lies northwest.