“Sandalwood is as precious as gold” – according to this Chinese saying, the visitor is in a veritable treasury when entering the “Red Sandalwood Museum” in the East of Beijing. A walk-in treasury, as the museum is spread over four floors full of magnificence and splendor, showing objects and furniture all made of red sandalwood, mahogany, rosewood, boxwood or ebony.

The huge entrance hall, home to a replica of a throne from the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City, is already more than astonishing. This whole arrangement out of wood does exactly what the original was once created for: it sits enthroned. Placed in the middle of the room, covered in gold leaf and modeled on a scale of 1:1, the mere sight of this throne puts the visitor into another time, unconsciously capturing the viewer with the feeling of awe.

This reverence – be it the beauty of wardrobes, mirrors, chests, shelves, beds or seating, be it the artisanship of craftworkers or the incredible value of the exhibition – this awe will last throughout the entire museum visit. Another example for it is the realistic replica of a corner tower of the Forbidden City on a scale of 1:5, right in the adjoining room. The red sandalwood piece of art weighs six tons, is over three meters high and was created by 300 artisans without the use of nails or screws – over a period of five years!

In addition, approximately 200 original furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties are exhibited alongside other models and replicas, while the museum also serves to preserve and revive this ancient craftsmanship. The private museum was founded in 1999 by Ms. Chen Lihua, who has been successful in the real estate business in Hong Kong and who has invested about 20 million Euros (200 million yuan RMB) in what is today’s world’s largest museum of red sandalwood. Besides the many other precious woods mentioned earlier, red sandalwood is very valuable. For a long time, the Red Sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus), an evergreen tree up to eight meters tall of the botanical Fabaceae family, was widely distributed in China and Southeast Asia. Furthermore, the heartwood of this tree is very hard and from dark red to purple color.

Especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasty, this wood was therefore much sought after, large parts of the Forbidden City for example are made of sandalwood. On top of that, furniture of this type was extremely popular with the rulers, even tribute payments to the emperor were once made in sandalwood. It was not too long before the occurrence of old trees, which naturally grow only slowly, almost completely disappeared. The rarity of this type of wood, the incredible craftsmanship of the old masters, the immersion in Chinese history or the imposing presence of the exhibits – all this makes this museum so unique and impressive and therefore a visit more than worthwhile.

Note: The Red Sandalwood Museum is located in the East of Beijing near Sihui Dong Subway Station. It is about 300 meters to the East from the South exit, the building is reminiscent of a temple, making it easy to find. Admission is currently RMB 50 for adults, children, pensioners, students, soldiers and people with disabilities receive a discount. The museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Information in the museum is bilingual in Chinese and English, audio guides are available.

First published in German on german.cri.cn