Nantong museum, Museum in Nantong, China.

Nantong Museum is a museum complex on Qixiu Road in Chongchuan District, combining traditional Chinese and Western architectural styles across its buildings. The complex is divided into several sections, each containing exhibition halls, gardens, and water features linked by paths.

The museum was founded in 1905 by Zhang Jian, an educator and entrepreneur from Nantong, and is considered one of the first public museums in China. It was established at a time when interest in documenting history and natural heritage was growing across the country.

The name "yuan" (garden) reflects Zhang Jian's design of a museum set within a garden, where plants and animals were displayed alongside indoor exhibits. The original collection was organized into four sections: natural history, history, art, and education. Zhang Jian donated his own family holdings and urged others to contribute, and by 1914 the museum catalogued 2,973 items.

The museum sits on Qixiu Road and is easy to reach on foot from the city center. Because the complex has several sections spread across a large area, it is worth setting aside enough time to walk through both the buildings and the gardens.

The whale skeleton is in the North Hall, not the western section: the 1911 Sino-Western two-storey building was converted to display a whale skeleton unearthed at the Lüsi seashore, with fossils and animal bones on the ground floor and calligraphy and paintings above.