Museums emerge as hot holiday spots for younger generations

TAIYUAN — Visiting museums has become a new holiday trend among young Chinese people, as more travelers took the road less traveled during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday earlier this month to enjoy culture and history rather than overcrowded tourist spots.

Ahead of the "super golden week", online tickets for popular museums, such as the National Museum of China and the Palace Museum in Beijing, and the Shanxi Museum in the northern province of Shanxi, sold out quickly.

"I feel lucky to have secured a ticket for the National Day," says a visitor surnamed Wang in her early 30s from Fuzhou, Fujian province, who visited the Shanxi Museum.

For many young visitors, museums offer not only a cultural enrichment journey but also a peaceful and therapeutic retreat from the holiday bustle.

"I like to come here for a walk when I feel stressed," says another 30-year-old museum visitor also surnamed Wang. The internet company employee visited Jinci Museum in Shanxi's provincial capital Taiyuan. "Gazing at these millennia-old buildings and reflecting on how ancient people created such marvels with so little help puts my own troubles into perspective."

Some visitors make their museum visits more entertaining and personal by creating humorous memes based on artifacts in the museums and purchasing creative cultural products from the museum shops.

At Shanxi Museum, stuffed toys shown sleeping cozily in a pouch were a particular hit with visitors during the holiday.

Qiu Ping, deputy director of Jinci Museum, notices the changing behaviors of young visitors. "They are no longer satisfied with just walking through exhibits — they do homework on the museums. They are not shy with the museum guides and ask questions about the exhibit's cultural significance."

This shift from passive observation to active participation reflects the younger Chinese generations' growing interest in traditional culture, Qiu says.

On Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, a popular Chinese lifestyle-sharing platform, posts tagged "museum "have exceeded 11 million, as many share their experiences.

Technology is also adding a new dimension to museum experiences. At the Taiyuan Northern Qi Dynasty Mural Museum, visitors can wear virtual reality headsets to experience the grandeur of ancient banquets, while interactive projection walls allow them to play music alongside musicians in the murals with a simple wave of their hand.

Wang Jiang, the museum's director, says the venue aims to create immersive experiences for visitors using technologies such as digital imaging and 3D animation.

The move has helped the museum attract more young visitors. Those under 30 accounted for more than 60 percent of all bookings during the holiday, according to the museum's data.

Xinhua