Bringing history to life

Ma recalls that they planned to treat 1,000 visitors, but finally had to double the number to satisfy the strong demand.

"Our visitors loved it very much. We plan to hold more activities of that kind during traditional Chinese festivals," says Ma.

Apart from exhibitions and performances, the museum's blind "dig boxes" are star cultural products, widely bought by visitors. Featuring an archaeological theme, the contents of the boxes require "excavation", as if unearthing a cultural relic. In 2021, the sales of its dig boxes reached about 30 million yuan ($4.2 million), with each priced around 200 yuan. It's common to see the museum's shop, with its large display of such boxes, full of people snapping them up.

"To make museums interesting and offering more attractive services to the public will always be our mission and goal," says Ma.

Dong Baohou, deputy director of Liaoning Provincial Museum, says that services now provided by museums should be accessible to as many people as possible.

"If a show can only be understood by those with rich knowledge, it's not a good one. We're now trying to attract more children and teenagers to come to our museum and fall in love with it," says Dong.

Dong says Liaoning Provincial Museum now is one of the most popular educational sites for teenagers because of its diversified and innovative public services.

Many schools hold their Chinese classes at the museum. Poetry recitals are often boring and difficult for children. The museum curates shows that tell the stories of those well-known poets from the Tang and Song dynasties, based on their rich collection of artifacts from that period.

"It's very popular. More than 100 schools cooperate with us. They bring their students to our museum. We offer lectures, teach students to write calligraphy, as those poets once did, and use technology to make the show more vivid," Dong says.