Taiwan - Libraries and museums

The National Central Library in T'aipei holds more than 1,615,000 items, including a collection of rare Chinese books (180,000 volumes). The National Taiwan University in T'aipei has more than 1,500,000 volumes in collected holdings.

The major museums, all in T'aipei, are the National Palace Museum, National Museum of History, and the Taiwan Museum. The National Palace Museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Chinese art—the collection consists primarily of treasures brought from the mainland. The Taipai Contemporary Arts Museum was completely renovated in 2001. The National Museum of History, founded in 1955, has more than 30,000 items in its collections of oracle bones and ritual vessels of the Shang and Chou dynasties, earthenware of the Sui and T'ang dynasties, stone engravings of the Han dynasty, and jade articles of the Chou dynasty. The Taiwan Museum has the most complete collection of natural history specimens in the country. The National Taiwan Science Education Center in T'aipei houses a planetarium and scientific exhibits.