The eastern branch of the Shanghai Museum in Shanghai's Pudong New Area. It is scheduled to open in November. Photo: Courtesy of the Shanghai Museum

The year 2024 will be a very exciting one for enthusiasts of archaeology and ancient Chinese culture, especially those in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Museum plans to open an eastern branch in the city's Pudong New Area, as well as hold 18 special exhibitions at home and abroad this year, the museum announced on Monday.

The new branch, covering a combined floor area of 113,200 square meters, is positioned to be "the worlds' top museum for ancient Chinese art." It will offer an exhibition that provides the most complete general history of ancient Chinese art, said Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum.

"The branch will serve as an important cultural window for the world to learn about China," Chu said.

According to Chu, some 10.5 percent of the exhibits on display at the branch will be precious cultural relics, higher than the 4 percent proportion of the museum's current branch in the downtown area.

The new branch's main building will be 45 meters high with six floors above ground and two floors underground. With 33,600 square meters of exhibition area, it will boast a total of 20 exhibition halls and interactive experience spaces, said Chu.

People may be able to visit the branch as early as next month. The branch's first-ever exhibition, Stars over China: The Ancient Shu Civilization of Sanxingdui and Jinsha, is scheduled to kick off on February 2, as part of a test run of the bronze exhibition hall.

The branch is going to fully open to the public by the end of November. 

The Shanghai Museum's current branch at People's Square will be positioned as "a museum of world civilization," with the aim of becoming a platform for visitors in China to learn about the world, with its future Belt and Road Initiative-themed exhibitions and cooperative exhibitions featuring renowned international cultural relics and art institutions.

The museum also shared its busy and exciting schedule of special exhibitions in the Monday press release. It will hold 18 special exhibitions at home and broad throughout the year, bringing Chinese and international visitors a feast of archaeology, culture and art.

In Shanghai, for instance, an exhibition on Iran's precious archaeological relics will kick off in June, and an exhibition under the theme of ancient Egyptian civilization will open from July 19.

Overseas, the schedule will include an exhibition in Hungary on cultural relics from China's Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), and an exhibition in Japan showcasing the beauty of Chinese ceramics.