Exploring The History of China: Part Two with G. Jökull Gíslason After I got home from visiting Beijing seven years ago, I learnt that my hotel had been a half an hour walk from The Military Museum of Museum of the Chinese People‘s Revolution or simply the Military Museum. So on my last day in Beijing I was not going to miss another opportunity to pay a visit. Read Exploring The History of China: Part One here...

The Military Museum was undergoing renovation and the main building has been gutted but the grounds in front of the Museum still featured a collection of tanks and weapons there were fascinating to have a look at. Admission was free, but it is important to point out that you need a passport. This is common in China; you need a valid ID and for foreigners this is only a passport.

The number of tanks, aircraft, guns, and other military equipment was very impressive. I imagine that most of these are from the Civil War that followed World War Two and then Korean War where China was the major combatant for the North.

Below: A Pershing is a good place to start.	Below: An M4A3E8 Easy Eight.

Below: A close-up of the Easy Eight track.	Below: A Sherman missing its main gun.

Below: A Japanese Type 97 medium tank.	Below: Another Japanese Type 97 medium tank.

Below: A Chinese version of the Katyusha Rocket Launcher showing how the rockets slide onto the rails.

Below: A M24 Chaffee.	Below: A M36 Jackson.

Below: The Chaffee and Jackson side-by-side.

Below: This isn't in Flames Of War yet.	Below: The trusty T-34/85 obr 1944.

Below: A closer look at the T-34 tracks.	Below: A Type 59; the Chinese verison of the T-55.

Below: The Type 62; a scaled-down version of the T-59.	Below: A closer look at the DShK AA machine-gun.

Below: Other instruments of warfare on display at the museum.

This was only a small part of the tanks, vehicles, and guns that were on display but gives you a good idea of what can be seen at the museum. Overall, I was impressed by the overall quality of the Chinese museums with the exception of one thing; the limited availability of books. There were three souvenir shops on the museum grounds but they had little that interested me. There were watches and tea sets (not relating to the museum), and a few toys. The most interesting exception was a knock-off Lego set that I thought would be a good entry point for my daughter into the Arab-Israeli Wars. Reporting from China, ~ Jökull. Right: Discovering some new sources of protein.

Links The Military Museum of Museum of the Chinese People‘s Revolution: http://eng.jb.mil.cn Other Museums of interests in Beijing Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: http://www.beijing-visitor.com/beijing-attractions/beijing-museums/war-museum The Tank Museum China: http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/museums/139453.htm