The Military Museum has always been my favorite museum in Beijing, especially in its old original somewhat unruly shape. I first visited the museum in 1997 and came back dozens of times since then. The museum is located in massive Communist-style building located in the center of town. These photos are from a visit in 2009, showing various military vehicles. On the first photo a Dongfeng EQ2050 Mengshi (Warrior), a massive 4×4 derived from the American Humvee.
Dongfeng EQ2050
The EQ2050 ‘Chinese Hummer’ debuted in 2004. It is still in production today. Over the years, Dongfeng developed dozens of variants and sub-variants, and for a while it was even available on the civilian market. Military variants include transport, troop transport, ambulances, light armored and heavy armored anti-tank, anti-aircraft, for airborne troops, for marines, and many more. Dongfeng also used the platform to develop various other series of military vehicles. All were and are powered by engines made by the Dongfeng-Cummins engine-making joint venture (DCEC). The vehicle on the photo is a base open-top car with a machine gun mount atop the frame.
The full name is The Military Museum of The Chinese People’s Revolution. Back in 1997 the museum was a beautiful mess, with folks freely climbing on and over the exhibits, with people eating lunch on on the stairways, smoking cigarettes everywhere, noisy school classes, over-flooded toilets, and staff sleeping through it all. The main attraction was the first floor (aka ground floor) where the big guns and tanks were displayed. There was an outdoor area as well, with even bigger guns, planes, a shot-down American U-2 reconnaissance airplane, missiles, and even a couple of boats.
Slowly but certain, the museum was cleaned up. The largest one was in 2007 to get the museum up to date for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. That was okay, the place needed some maintenance, and happily its character largely remained as it was. But that changed for the very bad with the latest renovation, which was completed in 2018. This update turned the museum into a sterile impersonal display, with the exhibits far away from visitors, with trillions of cameras and staff following your every move. I went to see it in late 2019 and left near-crying. All the fuzzy character of old is gone.
However, it is still a great place to visit for everybody interested in China’s military history. The tanks are restored now, looking good, and upstairs there are some interesting new rooms, dedicated to sweet subjects such as space war and aircraft carriers. So while the atmosphere is decidedly different, the goods are still great. I will post another story later on with photos of the museum now.
Beijing BJ2023
The Beijing BJ2023 ‘Brave Warrior’ is a utility vehicle based on a reworked variant of the platform of the Beijing-Jeep Cherokee XJ. It was developed with extensive support by Chrysler. Like Dongfeng with the EQ2050, Beijing developed dozens of military and civilian variants.
But where Dongfeng basically uses the same engine along the entire range, Beijing used and uses all kinds of engines, ranging from a Nissan 3.2 turbo diesel for most of the army cars to a 1.5 turbo petrol for some of the civilian cars.
The car in the museum was an early example, shipped straight from the factory to the museum, with the some of the protective strips still on the car. It is the four-door hardtop version powered by the 3.2 turbo diesel.
Beijing BJ212 T75 -105
All those new 4×4’s are cool, but this oldie is gold. The fantastic Beijing BJ212 T75 -105 is based on the BJ212 utility vehicle, and fitted with a badass Type T75 105 mm recoil-less gun, hence the name.
Split screen for direct firing.
The gun could be operated by a team of three, one for aiming and firing and two for loading and reloading. The system was primarily designed to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles, but was also considered effective against field fortifications. The gun could fire directly at a target or via the sky, mortar style. Max range for a direct attack was 580 meters, max range for a mortar attack was 1020 meters.
The T75-105 was widely used in the Chinese army until the late 1990’s. Today they all have been retired but some examples are still going strong in other countries. Power came from a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder petrol engine with 75hp. Not that many horses but the engine was so simple any soldier could fix it in the middle of nowhere.
Changfeng Liebao CJY6421D parade car
A very typical Chinese military car is this Changfeng Liebao CJY6421D parade car, used for military parades and troop inspections. The parade car is based on the Changfeng Liebao, which in turn is based on the second generation Mitsubishi Pajero, which was made for the Chinese market by Changfeng under license from Mitsubishi. This agreement has long expired but Changfeng still makes cars based on the Pajero platform.
Pajero-based parade cars have been used for troop inspections by every recent Chinese president, including by the current one, Xi Jinping. During the inspection, the officer or president, stands behind the bullet-proof glass screen, while holding his hands on the handlebar behind the screen. When not inspecting, the officer can sit on one of the seats. He is usually accompanied by a 3-man team: driver and guard in the front and an aide in the rear.
The CJY6421D Liebao was powered by the famous Mitsubishi ‘Sirius’ 2.4 liter petrol engine, which was manufactured locally at the Shenyang-Mitsubishi engine-making joint venture. Output in the CJY6421D was 130 hp. Gearbox was a 5-speed manual, sending horses to all four wheels.
Those were the military cars of the Military Museum in Beijing.
The outdoor area during the same visit, showing kids playing on a naval gun. This area is no more. More museum stuff soon!