Entrance of Nantong Museum. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Nantong Museum in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province has recently been listed as one of the 15 provincial bases featuring cultural exchanges with other countries by the Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, local media reported on Dec 3.

Located besides the scenic Haohe River, Nantong Museum was established by Zhang Jian (1853-1926), a local industrial magnate and scholar, in 1905. It is renowned as the first public museum in China.

As the weather becomes colder, deciduous trees on the grounds of Nantong Museum have changed their appearance, lending rich color to the place. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

It is less well known that the museum was originally set up as a public botanical garden with more than 300 varieties of plants and flowers, about one third of which are medicinal and edible.

Nantong Museum's collections are mainly divided into historical relics, revolutionary relics, and natural specimens, which are used to popularize the history, culture, as well as natural resources in Nantong.

Address: No 19 Haonan Road, Chongchuan district, Nantong

Ticket: Free

A Nantong resident practices tai chi at Nantong Museum. [Photo/ntfabu.com]