A museum can be a place that transports people back to a historic moment, a treasure house for artists, or an escape on a hot summer day. For Chen Zhi, a local museum is her go-to spot whenever she travels to a new city.

"I like traveling, and visiting museums has been one of the best ways to learn about the local culture and history. Some cultural relics can only be seen in local museums," Chen told CGTN while she rested on a bench after hours of touring the National Museum of China on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old comes from Yinchuan, the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and this is the second time she has visited the National Museum of China. When she can't travel much, Chen follows museums on various social media platforms.

As a history-lover, Chen watched many documentaries and special programs about history and museums, which ignited her interest in seeing the cultural relics for herself.

"Visiting museums feels like reading a history book displaying authentic objects which witnessed the ups and downs of history," said Chen, adding that young people's growing interest in visiting museums is closely related to their confidence in Chinese culture.

"Some cultural relics are stunning and exquisite beyond imagination, leaving me admiring the wisdom of the ancients," she said.

The bridge

Museums across China are exploring new ways of getting closer to the public. However, it takes expertise to understand the historical clues on the seemingly humble, quiet cultural relics.

Among vloggers who create short videos focusing on museums, Shuixing stands out with 3.47 million followers on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. As a PhD student of archaeology at Zhejiang University, the 27-year-old built a "bridge" for young people who want to learn more about archaeology and museums.

About one or two minutes long, her short videos always start with suspenseful beginnings. Shuixing observed that an interesting beginning is as important as the accuracy of content as viewers won't understand how well her videos are made if they are not willing to watch it. 

"It is challenging to select the content of interest to the viewers from the vast amount of archaeological materials, and it takes time to put the rich information together creatively in short videos," she said.

In addition to personal vloggers, museums across China have official accounts and compete on the arena of social media. Among them, the highest number of followers surpassed 10 million. Short videos on topics related to museums have been played billions of times.

Museums' popularity online has been translated into actual visits as well. During the Labor Day holiday this year, China's museums received more than 50 million visitors, the highest number in history for the same period. All the first-class museums reached the maximum number of visitors, according to statistics from the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

Innovations behind

There are over 6,100 museums in China and 90 percent of them are open to the public for free. Their charms that attract visitors also come from the innovations inside the museums.

From interactive applets to online exhibitions, museums are riding the wave of going digital. Data shows that more than 3,000 online exhibitions and 10,000 online educational activities were launched in 2021, attracting more than 4.1 billion viewers.

Last summer, a green horse toy became popular among Chinese netizens with its "ugly yet adorable" style. It was created by a team of young designers based on a bronze galloping horse, the most well-known piece in Gansu Provincial Museum. It has a history of more than 2,000 years and is also the most representative historical relic of the ancient Silk Road.

Cui Youxin, head of the young team which was founded in 2015, said their mission is to create products that really appeal to the young people. In her eyes, cultural creations should be both practical and interesting, having the potential to reach more people.

"Through these innovations, we find a new way to talk to young people. We believe it will become a new method for museums to promote relevant culture," said Cui.

Up to now, the Gansu Provincial Museum has sold more than 70,000 green horses at the museum's online TMall store. It is the souvenir shop's bestseller.

Cultural creations like the sensational toy have been designed in many museums, ranging from lollipop, ice cream, to toy bricks and mysterious boxes. Young people are the main buyers of these creative products. They go beyond simple take-away souvenirs, and become elements that attract visitors who come to the museums in person. Gansu Provincial Museum experienced a surge of visitors last summer because of the green horse toy.