Gail Lord is one of the world's foremost museum, gallery, and cultural planners. Co-founder and President of Lord Cultural Resources, her clients include the Nanjing Museum, Beijing Association of Science and Technology, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Louvre, Tate Modern, and the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, just to name a few. She is an art critic, feature writer, frequent commentator, public speaker, and the co-author of several books including Cities, Museums, and Soft Power and Manual of Strategic Planning for Cultural Organizations. Gail is a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in the French Ministry of Culture. In 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters, by McMaster University.Guan Qiang is currently Deputy Administrator of the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, in charge of Chinese Museums Association and ICOM China. He has been working in the field of archaeological research, exhibition curating, cultural heritage protection and museum management over the past 30 years and including extensive experience at China's renowned Palace Museum.An Laishun holds Ph.D. in Chinese history and Masters in museology. He is the Vice President of the International Council of Museums, Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Museums Association. For 34 years, Dr. An has served the museum sector in various positions at the national, regional and international levels. Working closely with colleagues around the world, he has concentrated his efforts on increasing regional and international cooperation between museums by contributing to the success of a number of programs and projects, and on internationalizing Chinese museums.Javier Jimenez is a museum and cultural planner with project experience in more than 20 countries. Since joining Lord Cultural Resources in 2008, Javier has been involved in consulting projects for renowned institutions including the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the King Abdulaziz Center in Saudi Arabia, the Ayala Museum, the Nanjing Museum, and the V&A Museum in London. Javier collaborates regularly with the academic sector. He is an invited professor at the Masters of Cultural Diplomacy from the Universittá Catolica di Roma and has delivered speeches and training sessions for the Chinese Museum Association, ICOM, CAMOC, and UNESCO.

Preface - The Chinese Museum Boom in Broad StrokesGuan QiangIntroduction- Understanding China's Museum BoomGail LordPart 1: China's Museum Boom in Context1.1 Lively Places Throbbing With LifeAn Laishun1.2 A Global Perspective on Museum Growth CyclesJavier Jimenez and Gail Lord1.3 A Brief History of Chineses Museums to 1949Duan Yong1.4 A Brief History of Chinese Museums 1949-1995Song Xiangguang1.5 The Musealization of ChinaSofia Bollo and Yu Zhang1.6 The Dichotomy of Relic Preservation Policies and the Social Role of MuseumsHan YongPart 2: Museum Building in China's New Urban Culture2.1 The Urban Boom Meets MuseumsDoug Saunders2.2 A Museum Born of Real EstateGao Peng2.3 From Desification to Place-making in Urban PlanningPhil Enquist2.4 Character Building and Genius Loci in Museum ArhitectureHe Jingtang2.5 Creating Bridges Between Contemporary Art and LifeRebecca CatchingPart 3: Opening Up to the World3.1 Cultural Diplomacy and Soft PowerAn Laishun3.2 Exhibitions as Tools of DiplomacyZhou Ming3.3 Navigating Cross-cultural Collaborations-a Curatorial PerspectiveChen Shen3.4 Changing Concepts and Strategies for Public EngagementTomislav Sola3.5 From Hermetic and Inward Looking to Outward Reaching and International MuseumsTian Kai3.6 The V&A's Partnership with the Design Society in Shenzhen: An Ongoing Legacy of Cultural DiplomacyTim ReevePart 4: Case Studies in Innovation4.1 Shanghai Museum: "A History of the World in 100 Objects"-Growing a Capacity for Institutional ChangeYang Zhigang4.2 Guangdong Museum: The Dawn of the Smart MuseumWei Jun4.3 Palace Museum: Museum Fever-Keeping Up With Public Demands for New ExperiencesShan Jixiang4.4 Natural History Museums: Underappreciated, Yet Wildly PopularJian Guan4.5 Suzhou Musuem: Harnessing the Power of the People, Products and PlaceChen Ruijin4.6 Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum: Embers of MemoryZhu PeiConclusion: Toward a Sustainable Future: "Feeling the Stones as We Cross the River"Gail Lord, Javier Jimenez and Rebecca Catching

Growth of Chinese museums in the 21st century reflects the government's Museum Development Plan for 2011-2020 to open one museum per 250,000 people, with the goal of attracting one billion visitors. This book builds our knowledge of the roles of China's museums through social and political changes, governance, and the private and public sectors.