8 strangest Shanghai museums

Shanghai hosts all the museums you’d expect in a world-class city: countless art spaces, history exhibitions and urban planning centers. But, if you explore a little more, you’ll find that the city has its share of odder exhibition halls.

From a scrappy chopstick center to an elegant homage to music boxes, the city brims with unexpected entertainments. Here are our picks of the city’s most unusual museums.

Shanghai Typewriter Museum

We've gotten to the point where children need to be told that this is "the computer's grandfather." Feel old now?

Why it's odd but awesome: When small children enter this tiny typewriter museum, they’re often perplexed by the 50 machines on display.

“I tell them, this is the computer’s grandfather,” says curator Han Tao Feng. Foreigners are often touched to find antique typewriters from their home countries, she adds.

The 300 typewriters were collected by Suzhou-born Lu Hanbin, an international merchant who now lives in the Czech Republic.

Don't leave without seeing: The oldest typewriter: a redwood beauty from 1809.

Shanghai Typewriter Museum, 248 Wuxing Lu, near Jianguo Lu 吴兴路248号近建国路, +86 21 6466 4556, hours: daily, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Shanghai Animation and Comics Museum

Celebrating the finest in animation -- namely Jessica Rabbit's legs.

Why it's odd but awesome: This shiny, futuristic homage to animation opened in 2010.

The first floor is an entrancing guide to animation’s history, from Chinese shadow puppets to Mickey Mouse. It's interspersed with life-size figurines, short film clips and a hall of movie posters. The second-floor is kid-friendly and commercial --  you can even dub your voice into popular cartoon flicks.

Don't leave without seeing: The top floor is a movie theater: separate tickets required.

Shanghai Animation and Comics Museum, 69 Zhangjiang Lu, a cab ride from Jinke station on Metro Line 2 张江路69号, 做地铁二号岛金科站, 然后做出租车, +86 5895 7998, hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Shanghai Antique Music Box Gallery

Find out what they were listening to in 1796.

Why it's odd but awesome: The personal collection of a Japanese merchant, this museum is filled with mostly European music boxes.

“I wanted to come because it’s romantic and fun,” says Cherry Ding, a Shanghai high school student.

The most interesting music boxes are the ones with doll figurines that spring to life in time with the music. One features a young boy who tries to steal some jam, only to see the jar turn into his grandmother’s scolding face. Another creepier one displays a woman stewing a monkey’s head.

Don't leave without seeing: The oldest music box in the world: a tiny golden contraption dating from 1796.

Shanghai Antique Music Box Gallery, 425 Dingxiang Lu, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, near Yingchun Lu, Metro Line 2 Science and Technology Museum Station 丁香路425号, 近迎春路, 地铁2号线上海科技馆, +86 21 6854 7647, hours: daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Chopsticks Museum

A one-man museum with a fabulous story.

Why it's odd but awesome: This tiny, cold room, shared with a jewelry saleswoman, is perhaps the smallest museum in Shanghai.

Lan Xiang, 81, lives upstairs and displays his collections of chopsticks in a first-floor cabinet.

As a young man, Xiang, a writer, traveled throughout Asia in search of chopsticks. If you speak Putonghua, he’ll tell you the story of his quest to collect more than 2,000 pairs including a gilded silver set from the Tang Dynasty.

There aren’t many on display though: “My best ones are in the bank,” Xiang says. But, his story alone is worth a visit.

Don't leave without seeing: Xiang's book “Chinese Chopsticks,” which is avalable in Chinese, English and French.

Chopsticks Museum, 191 Duolun Lu, near Sichuan Lu, Metro Line 3 Dongbaoxing Lu Staion 多伦路191号, 近四川北路, 地铁3号线东宝兴路站 +86 21 5671 7528, hours: daily, call ahead for appointment