The National Museum of China (NMC) is located on the east side of the Tian’anmen Square in Beijing. It was founded in February, 2003 after a merger between the former National Museum of Chinese History and the National Museum of Chinese Revolution. NMC, an integrated national museum under the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, focuses on both history and art and is dedicated to collection, exhibition, research, archaeology, public education, and cultural communication.

The British Museum was founded in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all 'studious and curious persons'. Visitor numbers have grown from around 5,000 a year in the eighteenth century to nearly 6 million today.

The Museum was established in 1852, following the enormous success of the Great Exhibition the previous year. Its founding principle was to make works of art available to all, to educate working people and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Profits from the Exhibition were used to establish the Museum of Manufactures, as it was initially known, and exhibits were purchased to form the basis of its collections.