Thinking Globally – The ChiMeiMuseum
Chi Mei Culture Foundation was established in 1977 under the instructions of Mr. Wen-Long Shi, the founder of Chi Mei Industrial Corporation. In February 1991, the Chi Mei Museum Preparatory Office was established, and the museum was opened to the public on April 1, 1992 with free admission.

In 2001, a BranchMuseum was established in the TainanSciencePark, with displays that focused on the development of technology from primitive hand tools to modern machinery.

A Veritable Treasure Trove-The ChiMeiMuseum's Collections
The objects in the ChiMeiMuseum’s collections fall into five main categories: Western art, musical instruments, historic artifacts, natural history and arms and armor.

Western Art
The ChiMeiMuseum's art collections consist mainly of Western art. In 1988, the Chi Mei Culture Foundation embarked on a systematic program to acquire representative pieces from all of the major periods and schools of Western art. Today, the Museum houses Roman mosaics and examples of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, Romantic art, as well as Post-impressionist art from the early twentieth century; the collection of French paintings and sculptures from the late nineteenth century is particularly rich.

Musical Instruments Initially, the ChiMeiMuseum focused on collecting violins, violas and cellos by famous instrument makers. Subsequently, the scope of the Museum's musical instrument collection expanded to include a wide range of historic instruments from all over the world, as well as automatic and mechanical musical instruments. Of all these instruments, it is the automatic and mechanical instruments that are most popular among visitors; people love the sound they make, and at the same time are fascinated by the mechanisms. A special favorite is the US-made automatic piano dating from 1920. Using paper roll operation, this automatic piano also incorporates panpipes, a glockenspiel, drums, a mandolin, a triangle, castanets and bird whistles, creating a "miniature orchestra"that is extremely popular among visitors. Historical Artifacts The antiquities held in the collections of the ChiMeiMuseum are of great historical and cultural significance. They include historical artifacts from the great civilizations of the past, including Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and Sri Lanka. Through these artifacts, visitors to the museum can gain a better appreciation of how human civilization has evolved over the centuries.

Natural History
Preparations for the establishment of the Chi Mei Museum's natural history section began in 1992, when the Museum started to collect specimens of native Taiwanese mammals and birds. Since then, the scope of the collection has expanded to include animals from all over the world, with foreign experts assisting in the collection of specimens. Every year since 1993, the Museum has invited several of the world's leading experts in animal morphology to visit Taiwan to give classes in the study of animal specimens; these classes are offered free of charge to anyone with an interest in morphology. In 1993, the Chi Mei Museum's natural history collection was enriched by the acquisition of the collections from a private museum in Arizona. The geographical regions covered by the Museum's collection of specimens now include Africa, North America, South America, Eurasia, Australia, India, the Arctic and the Antarctic; there is also a special section dedicated to bird specimens. Specimens are displayed with backdrops representing their natural environment. Besides animals and birds, the natural history collection also includes an impressive range of butterfly specimens and meteorite fragments, along with a comprehensive, well-organized display of fossils. These displays are of immense value for supporting schoolchildren's scientific education, while also constituting an important learning resource for the general public.

Arms and Armor
The functions for weapons varied from warfare to sport, self-defense and hunting, etc. Many of the most important inventions in human history derived from weapons; over the centuries, arms and armor have been closely tied up with the development of technology. At the same time, the techniques used to manufacture arms and armor, and the decoration that is applied to them, reflect the evolution of human civilization and the cultural differences between regions. The ChiMeiMuseum's arms and armor section includes items from Europe, India, Persia, Africa, Asia and Japan; the collections of Japanese samurai swords and armor, and European firearms, are particularly impressive in terms of both quantity and quality.

充實館藏
The primary goal of Chi Mei Museum continues to be the enrichment of is collection, and with this guiding principle, CHIMEI has invested a remarkable amount of work and money. Museum representatives frequently go to London, Paris and New York to attend and bid at major auctions for all kinds of artworks. CHIMEI's buying power and dedication have impressed the western world. The London Times once had a wide coverage on the transferred ownership of The Message, by English painter Thomas Cooper Gotch, to Taiwan, and the French media reported the Museum's purchases of historic arms and armor in France. In 1993, Chi Mei Museum purchased a complete collection of mammal and bird specimens from a private museum in Arizona, USA

CHIMEI's collection is administered by documented regulations. Take the collection of Western Art for example, its goal is to present an overview of the history of Western Art. The collection of Chinese antiquities, on the other hand, emphasizes that'Chinese heritage should be locally preserved'. Therefore, none of the Chinese antique pieces was acquired in China or Hong Kong, but from foreign countries.