Editor's note: May 18 marks the International Museum Day, with the theme "The Power of Museums". Guangdong is home to 367 registered museums as of April 2022, ranking third in China. In this series, we will share with you several national first-class museums and some of their ongoing exhibitions in the province, to explore the potential of museums to bring about positive change in our communities. 

The Opium War Museum

Covering an area of nearly 800,000 square meters, the Opium War Museum is both an historical site and a memorial, built to pay homage to Lin Zexu (1785-1850) and the great fight against invaders during the Opium Wars - two conflicts between China's Qing Dynasty and Western powers in the mid-19th century. Its four branches are the Lin Zexu Memorial, the Sea Battle Museum, the site of Shajiao Fort and the site of Weiyuan Fort Complex.

The museum is dedicated to collecting, researching and displaying the historical materials of Lin Zexu's opium destruction and the Opium War, thus there are two basic exhibitions displaying the historical events of opium destruction at Humen and the Opium Wars. 

Located in Zhenkou village, Humen town, the Lin Zexu Memorial is home to the opium destruction pools, the historical relics of 1839, as well as a permanent exhibition venue that explores the causes and processes of the opium destruction. It includes gateway, exhibition building, statues of anti-British warriors, Lin Zexu's statue, monument for opium destruction at Humen, and Anti-British cannons.