The museum's four floors include ten halls, the largest of which is the Hall of Weapons. The Hall's extensive holdings of antiquated weaponry showcase domestic and foreign weapons, including blades, small arms, artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-air weaponry, jet fighters, rockets and rocket launchers, and cruise missiles. Foreign weapons include
Soviet tanks purchased or donated during the 1950s and 1960s,
Japanese weaponry captured during the
Second Sino-Japanese War,
American weaponry captured from the
Kuomintang during the
Chinese Civil War and from
UN forces during the
Korean War. In addition, the Hall of Weapons displays equipment from China's
space program, such as satellites and a two-seat orbital capsule. With two exceptions, the other halls are largely historical exhibits, combining plaster sculptures, maps, paintings, artifacts, movies, and plaques (in Chinese, with select ones translated into English). The other nine halls include: • The Hall of the Agrarian Revolutionary War:
Confrontations between 1927 and 1937 of the
Chinese Communist Party and the ruling Kuomintang • The Hall of the War to Resist Japanese Aggression: The 1937–1947
Second Sino-Japanese War • The Hall of the War of Liberation of China: The
1945–1949 period of the Chinese Civil War • The Hall of Ancient Wars:
Internal and external wars during the 4,000 years before the
Qing dynasty • The Hall of Modern Wars: Internal and external wars between 1940 and 1949 • The Hall of National Defense and Army Building: Modern military achievements and developments since 1949 • The Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea:
Chinese involvement in the
Korean War • The Hall of Presents: Gifts to the Chinese military or state by foreign militaries or states • The Hall of Cheng Yunxian's Sculptural Arts: Plaster reproductions of sculptures of world leaders, historical figures, Chinese Communist Party leaders and scientists by Cheng Yunxian == Equipment, Planes, Tanks, Artillery and various small arms on display ==