The museum occupies a handsome compound in central Hailing District, built around the birthplace of Mei Lanfang, the most celebrated Peking opera performer of the twentieth century. Several rooms re-create the domestic interiors of his family home, while the exhibition halls trace his career through costumes, photographs, props, and correspondence, including material from his overseas tours to the United States and the Soviet Union.
The displays are mainly in Chinese, but the physical objects — the embroidered robes, the headdresses heavy with silk tassels, the stage photographs — communicate clearly across the language gap. Allow ninety minutes. The adjoining Mei Lanfang Park is a pleasant place to linger afterward, with a large statue of Mei and traditional performance spaces used for live opera on weekend afternoons.