Specialized museums walk a fine line

The website of the Oxford English Dictionary describes an "ecomuseum" as an interdisciplinary museum that presents "the history and heritage of a particular community or region in the context of its society, culture and natural environment".

In 1971, two French museologists coined the term "ecomuseum" and put forward its definition. It was introduced into Chinese academic circles via a magazine in the 1980s.

China's first batch of ecomuseums were established in the late 1990s in Guizhou province, with counterparts in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region opening soon after.