Chimei Museum feels like a museum that has been transplanted from France to Southern Taiwan, just south of the Tainan city center.
Its expansive grounds are lined with Classical and Renaissance-style statues, while the main building itself looks like a Neo-Classical Palace combined with the White House in Washington D.C.
Inside, I discovered sprawling collections of ancient weaponry, rare musical instruments, and world-class art. Chimei Museum truly exceeded my expectations.
In this article, I’ll introduce why this extraordinary museum even exists, how to plan a trip to it, and how to combine it with nearby Ten Drum Cultural Village for a truly memorable day trip from Tainan city center.
Chimei Museum Quick Tips
- Location: Here in Rende district, Tainan city
- Opening Times: 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, closed Wednesdays
- Entrance Fee: TWD 200, buy here on Klook
- Photography: Allowed with no flash, unless sign indicates otherwise. No selfie sticks, cosplaying, or wedding photography. Don’t ask guards to take photos. No video or live steaming.
- Other Rules: No flip flops, gum, or strollers
- Make It More Fun: Play this augmented reality game while you visit
- Pro Tips: Visit Ten Drum Cultural Village in the morning and Chimei in the afternoon for best sunlight angle. Dress for strong AC inside.
Why a Versailles-Style Museum in Tainan? The Chimei Story
Chimei Museum (奇美博物館 or “Qimei Museum”, official site) is a private museum established in 1992 by Shi Wen-long (許文龍).
Shi was the founder of Tainan-based Chimei Corporation, the largest maker of ABS resin (used to make LEGO and many other products), who died in 2023 at the age of 95.
Shi, an amateur violinist, started Chi Mei Culture Foundation in 1977 to provide scholarships to artists.
Having grown up poor, he decided to build a museum for those who would never have a chance to travel to museums in Western countries.
The museum’s collection continued to grow, eventually amassing the world’s largest set of antique violins (over 1300 at the last count). According to Wikipedia, in 1996 Forbes called it “one of the world’s most surprising art collections”.
And these instruments don’t just sit there – they museum has allowed more than 3000 musicians borrow them, including when Yo-Yo Ma borrowed a cello for his Taipei concert in 1999.
Originally housed in a company building, the museum was moved to Tainan Metropolitan Park (臺南都會公園) nearby in 2014-2015.
The current building, designed by Tsai Yi-cheng, is meant to incorporate the “best of Western culture.”
The structure, which cost TWD 2 billion (USD 60 million) has a LEED silver rating (for eco-friendliness) and houses a craftsmen workshop to maintain the musical instruments.
The building showcases around 4000 items at any time, around one-third of the total collection.
The expansive park around it is filled with European-style statues and ponds. Free to visit, it is a popular hangout-spot for local Tainan residents.
Together with the nearby Ten Drum Cultural Village and Hushan Forest Park, it makes up the Rende Cultural Park (仁德文化園區), also called 86 Art Village (86藝術聚落), an expansive recreational space that is the pride of Tainan.
All this is in a city that is otherwise known for its traditional Taiwanese culture and architecture.
If you’re more interested in Chinese/Taiwanese art, then consider visiting Southern Branch of National Palace Museum in neighboring Chiayi instead.
Or for another unique one, try the Museum of World Religions in Taipei.
Getting to Chimei Museum
Chimei Museum is here in Tainan city’s Rende district, just a short hop south of the Tainan city center, between Tainan Airport and Tainan HSR Station.
By Car
If you drive, Chimei Museum is just off Provincial Highway 1, which traverses the country from north to south. There’s a large parking lot here on its eastern (back) side, which could also be used for visiting Ten Drum Cultural Village.
However, for a more impactful arrival, park in P1 (here) or P2 (here) on the front (western) side of Chimei Museum like I did.
I then got to start my visit at the impressive Apollo Fountain and by crossing Olympus Bridge towards the front of the main museum building.
By Public Transportation
From Tainan HSR Station (see my HSR guide and book discount tickets here), take a taxi (15 minutes) or ride a local train from Shalun Station (which is connected to the HSR station) to Bao’an Station (15 minutes, swipe EasyCard).
From Bao’an Station, it’s a 10-minute walk to the Chimei Museum grounds or 15 minutes to the building itself.
From Tainan city center, take the same local train but in reverse. Ride it from Tainan Station to Bao’an Station (7 minutes) then walk to the entrance.
How to Combine Chimei and Ten Drum
For my visit, I decided to do Ten Drum Cultural Village first then Chimei Museum in the afternoon.
The morning slot at Ten Drum Cultural Village is 10:00 AM to 12:15 PM, with a percussion performance from 11 AM to 12 PM. See all the slot times in my Ten Drum guide.
One reason for my choice was to enjoy the rides and activities of Ten Drum earlier in the day, which tends to be less busy. The second was because Chimei Museum faces west and I wanted to photograph the front of it in the best light, under the setting afternoon sun.
While you could park at one parking lot for visiting both attractions, I parked at Ten Drum’s parking lot first, then drove over to the front parking lot of Chimei Museum so I could approach the building from the front.
Ten Drum Cultural Museum and Chimei Museum are noticeably less packed on weekdays, but avoid Wednesdays, when Chimei Museum is closed. It’s also closed on Lunar New Year’s Eve.
The museum is open 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM on all other days, while the Tainan Metropolitan Park grounds are open 24 hours.
My Visit to Chimei Museum
My first impression arriving at the museum’s parking lot (one of four major parking lots, I should say) was that the grounds are enormous.
Tainan Metropolitan Park spans 40 hectares (100 acres), or 1.5 times the size of Da’an Forest Park in Taipei.
After parking, I followed one of several paths leading to the large fountain directly west of the main museum building.
Apollo Fountain
The Fountain of Apollo (阿波羅噴泉, here) is a same-scale replica of the fountain of the same name at the Palace of Versailles in France.
The fountain has a centerpiece scene depicting the Greek god Apollo rising from the sea in a four-horse chariot. The original was made of gilded led but the replica is done in white marble.
To make the replica, Chimei Museum commissioned French artist Gills Perrault in 2008. It took three years to make a plaster cast using laser measurements and another three years to carve the marbles in Italy.
I haven’t personally seen the original at Versailles, but I was truly impressed by this replica and spent time admiring it from every possible angle.
Olympus Bridge
From Apollo Fountain, the Museum Main Road (博物館大道) crosses Olympus Bridge (奧林帕斯橋, here) over the Reflecting Pool (水池), the artificial body of water in front of the museum.
The bridge is flanked by statues of the Twelve Olympians, the major deities of the Green pantheon. The intended effect is a mythological and ceremonial approach to the building.
While the bridge isn’t modeled on any specific bridge in Europe, crossing it brought back memories of my travels in Europe.
I couldn’t help but snap dozens of photos of the statues backed by the museum building, which grew more impressive with every step closer.
If you stick around in the evening after closing time, the view of the museum across the pond is especially gorgeous, and that’s when it’s more likely to reflect on the water.
Main Building and Entrance
Between the bridge and main building is the large Muse Plaza (奇美博物館繆思廣場, here). The plaza is named after the Nine Muses (Greek goddesses), which also give rise to the word “museum”.
The plaza has a carpet-concept layout, with a checkerboard grid of stone and grass blocks, like a hopscotch game for giants. The blocks are laid on the diagonal, forming diamonds pointing towards the museum.
Surrounding the plaza are replicas of more famous statues, including Theseus Defeats the Centaur – Chimei Museum also helped to restore the original in Paris, which had been destroyed in WWII.
From the plaza, I took in the fine view of the main building before me, with its bright white façade gleaming in the afternoon sunlight.
My eyes were drawn to the huge Central Dome, which is crowned with a golden, twinkling Angel of Glory statue.
The museum is perfectly symmetrical, with Corinthian columns framing the entrance and holding up a triangular pediment, and wide wings stretching to the left and right.
While the overall vibe is decidedly European, I was reminded that I’m in Taiwan by vendors around the square selling items like dried tofu (豆乾 or dou gan), tea eggs (茶葉蛋 or cha ye dan), and sweet potato balls (地瓜球 or digua qiu).
Near the entrance, some Taiwanese youths were posing for photos with their musical instruments.
Lobby and Facilities
Stepping into the lobby felt like entering a majestic European palace.
I looked up to a vast dome soaring overhead in perfect symmetry. Its coffered ceiling is patterned with diamond-shaped panels, each embossed with a rosette, creating a hypnotic sense of depth as the design tightens toward the round oculus at the very top.
Light streams in through the circular opening at the dome’s center, illuminating the white and pale-blue details and giving the whole space a celestial glow.
Before even showing my ticket, I could already admire several stunning statues in the lobby.
In a hall to the left, I noted various facilities for visitors.
These included luggage storage lockers, breastfeeding room, mailboxes for mailing postcards, a large 7-Eleven (with draft beer on tap!) and connecting Starbucks.
There’s also an Italian restaurant (here) and a Gift Shop (2F), which even sells Chimei branded pineapple cakes.
To the right of the lobby is an exhibition space for temporary galleries (1F, additional fee required) and DeepBlue café (here, 2F), which features afternoon tea sets.
Because I had purchased my tickets in advance on Klook, I was able to skip the line and enter the museum’s paid area directly by scanning the QR code.
1F Sculpture Hall
Upon entering the paid area, I found myself in a long Sculpture Hall (雕塑大廳). The skylight filled corridor is lined with 19th and 20th-century Greco-Roman statues on either side, with a few notably beautiful ones in the middle.
The hall, including is second-floor counterpart (see below) is the only part of the museum bathed in natural light, with additional lights highlighting each piece like a moment in time.
1F Arms and Armor
The long hall to the left side of the corridor houses the Arms and Armor Gallery (兵器廳).
This expansive gallery features an awesome collection weapons and armor from ancient times to the present. It begins with a European then a non-European section.
I marveled at hand-carved bows and pistols, shimmering swords, life-sized armoured knights jousting with wooden lances, and menacing polearms (spears with an axe-like feature at the end).
Most impressive to me were the Japanese samurai armors (鎧甲), with lacquered iron plates, fearsome face masks, crested helmets, armored skirts, and shin guards.
1F Natural History and Fossils
To the right of the central corridor is the Natural History and Fossils Gallery (動物廳).
This gallery features fossils and taxidermy animals from all five continents and polar regions, grouped by region.
In it, I walked through a corridor called Hallway of Life’s Evolution, which traces life’s journey through 3.5 billion years.
Children in particular will probably enjoy this gallery the most.
1F Rodin Gallery
At the far end of the corridor, or eastern end of the museum, is the Rodin Gallery (羅丹廳).
It showcases a collection of masterpieces by the 19th-century French sculptor Auguste Rodin, as well as from his teachers, contemporaries, and followers.
A bronze reproduction of The Thinker is the centerpiece of the hall and drew me into the space.
It kneels directly below a smaller dome in a similar style to the main dome at the front of the building.
1F Sculpture Garden
At the back right of the Sculpture Hall, a set of doors leads to a small outdoor area behind the museum called the Sculpture Garden (雕塑水景庭園).
While you can also see many sculptures in the large public park around the museum, this area is only accessible to ticket-holders so it feels more private and VIP.
There’s no sign at the doors and few visitors seem to know about it – I had the whole area to myself when I visited.
2F Sculpture Hall
At the back of the 1F Sculpture Hall, a wide staircase leads up to a similar hall on the second floor (elevators also available).
The second floor is also skylit and looks down on the first. The statues here are mainly replicas of ancient Greek and Roman ones, older than those on the first floor.
2F Fine Arts Gallery
The second floor left side houses the Fine Arts Gallery (藝術廳). The hall features an exquisite collection of original European paintings, sculptures, sedans, ivory inlaid cabinets, and other furniture.
The gallery is organized into eight main rooms spanning the 13th to 20th centuries, with an emphasis on French paintings but also some from Italy, Austria, and others.
A few notable pieces include Paolo di Giovanni Fei’s Madonna of Humility, El Greco’s Saint Martin and the Beggar, and Gustave Caillebotte’s Woman with a Rose.
2F Musical Instruments
The right side hall of the second floor contains the museum’s famous collection of Musical Instruments (樂器聽).
When I first entered, I gazed upon displays of folk musical instruments from around the world, including some with particularly impressive pearl inlays.
In a large central room, I encountered a life-sized walk-through orchestra, with instruments laid out as in the 19th century.
As various instruments took their turn in the piece, a “player” would appear on a digital screen behind it.
Chimei is especially known for its collection of violins – the largest in the world, with over 1300 of them.
A small sampling of them are on display, including several by Antonio Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù (including the last violin he ever made), and other renowned artisans.
Finally, I admired some gorgeous pianos with paintings inside the top cover.
The second floor also has a few side rooms with displays of clocks and other household items.
Exploring the Museum Grounds
When I left the museum near closing time, the front façade of the museum and statues on Olympus Bridge were lit up by rays of the setting sun, so I had to take another stroll to admire them.
At this point, local residents were flooding into the park, enjoying picnics around the ponds.
Couple cuddled on park benches and walked hand-in-hand past elegant statues as classical music played through speakers in the park.
These scenes in and outside the museum showed me that late founder Shi Wen-long has truly achieved his goal, which is displayed on the Chimei Museum website homepage:
“My museum serves only one purpose: to exist for the public.”
Hi, i wanted to visit ten drum in the morning and Chimei in the afternoon, but i heard that most of the rides and attractions at ten drum are not open early? Not sure if i should do the reverse just in case, but i would love to photograph Chimei in the right sun direction too haha
In my Ten Drum article I have provided a link to the daily schedule of all rides. Here it is also: https://tendrum.com.tw/userfiles/images/202410-A3-EN_1.jpg One idea is to do the afternoon slot at Ten Drum, but don’t stay too long, then you can still catch Chimei before it closes. This is actually what I did, but I visited Ten Drum rather quickly and I didn’t go on any of the rides. Some rides can have longer waiting, so that will add more time. Go on a weekday if possible for shorter waiting times.