In Guangzhou, a new fragrance is redefining what travel means.
It doesn’t come from a boutique or niche perfumery, but from a vast sensory institution recently certified by Guinness World Records as the “Largest Perfume Museum” (9,500,878 sq m, Guangzhou, November 27, 2025) – the Xuelei Fragrance Museum .
Here, scent becomes architecture, storytelling, and a new way to experience a city.
A Museum Built in the Language of Scent.
The presence of a museum begins with its architecture:
a distillation-inspired structure, clad in red brick, evoking both industrial heritage and futuristic craftsmanship. A large central atrium draws sunlight into the building, setting the tone even before any fragrance is detected.
Across five levels, visitors discover
18 themed galleries covering world civilizations
More than 300 olfactory discovery points
A library of 400 unique fragrances
A comprehensive overview of Eastern aromatic traditions
Immersive olfactory theatres and multi-temporal scenographies
Smell here becomes a cultural vocabulary, capable of interpreting memory, history, and identity.
The Five-Story AI Scent Installation:
The Museum’s Visual and Experiential Centerpiece.
The highlight that captures the attention of all visitors is the imposing AI scent installation , spanning five floors.
Hundreds of transparent perfume containers are suspended in a radial constellation around a spiral staircase.
Light filters through them, transforming each ascent into a cinematic moment—
as if walking through a nebula made of scents.
More than just visual poetry, the installation serves as the starting point for the museum’s data-driven olfactory journey.
Using a digital scent map , visitors can sample fragrance notes across more than 300 scent points and map their reactions—the brightness of citrus, the warmth of flowers, the depth of woods.
At the end, the fourth-floor time machine generates a personal journey report
: a sensory portrait of individual preferences.
Then comes the magic:
on the first floor, the AI blending station—often described as the “cybernetic magic of perfumery”
—creates a bespoke fragrance in just three minutes , from formula to bottling.
Technology democratizes perfumery, granting every visitor the creative agency once reserved for professionals.
A new pilgrimage site for perfume lovers from around the world.
With its record size and innovative sensory design, the museum has quickly established itself:
A must-see for perfume lovers from all over the world
A media favorite in design and lifestyle circles
A new source of inspiration for perfumers and designers
A benchmark in experiential cultural tourism
Visitors leave not only with a scent, but also with a new understanding of how perfumes shape perception, memory, and culture.
On your next trip, let scent be your destination. And the Xuelei Perfume Museum might just be the place worth traveling across continents for.