MKsports east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Jin Peng/Xinhua)" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-09/6adb7b29-08c0-4a14-a97e-46d5986dcb66.jpeg" />

Visitors watch a performance made by a robot dog at the science and technology museum in Jiaxing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Jin Peng/Xinhua)

During China's 2025 Spring Festival holidays that just ended on Tuesday, museum visits became a hot trend. Take Shaanxi, a province with prolific museum and heritage resources, as an example, its various exhibition facilities hosted a total of 7.36 million visitors during the eight-day holidays. 

With its iconic Terracotta Warriors, the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in the province's capital city Xi'an was fully booked during the holiday season despite providing 75,000 tickets a day.

It was an "even busier version of seeing Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum," Jia Fengjuan, a 42-year-old visitor from Chongqing, told the Global Times. 

"My partner is a Frenchman who wished to visit different Chinese museums during the holiday break. We started by visiting the local museums in Chongqing and then drove to Chengdu [in Sichuan Province] and Shaanxi Province," said Jia. 

The Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum launched a major snake-themed exhibition alongside other exhibits focusing on ancient stone inscriptions and printing art. 

Zhao Zhuo, deputy director of the museum's Department of Cultural Relics Information, told the Global Times that during the holidays, a total of 143,671 people visited the museum, including its main exhibition hall, its related relics conservation base and other facilities. "Non-local visitors at the museum accounted for 93.98 percent," Zhao noted. 

Zhao also added that the city's niche facilities like the Baiheliang Underwater Museum and the Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling in Chongqing also intrigued visitors. 

Cultural sociologist Xu Shuming told the Global Times that visiting museums has gradually become a "lifestyle for many Chinese people." The change has not only increased the popularity of some venues like the Palace Museum, but also inspired people to visit niche-themed museums. 

Focusing on the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) known as Luoyang tri-color wares, the Luoyang Sancai Art Museum received 123,000 people during the holiday break. In Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the Chengdu Art Museum intrigued visitors by launching ICH activities such as paper cutting and also Shu embroidery experience sessions. 

Niche museums such as those in Qingzhou and Shouguang launched a joint exhibition displaying ancient Chinese sculptures with the Guardian Art Center.  

Photo: Courtesy of Guardian Art Center

"The public's interest in China's ICH and the country's cultural heritage has grown since the Spring Festival has itself been listed as an ICH. Niche-themed museums in China often house the most authentic ICH legacies, and this is also a reason why these museums can now catch people's attention," said Xu. 

The interactive and immersive visiting experiences provided by themed museums were these facilities' strengths for engaging visitors during the holiday break. 

With its installed experiential devices, the Sui-Tang Dynasties Grand Canal Cultural Museum attracted 78,000 visitors during the Spring Festival holidays. Including the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, science and technology museums across the country welcomed more than 3 million visitors. Activities such as shaking hands with robots and watching robot dogs dancing allowed visitors to interact with China's technological growth. 

According to China's National Immigration Administration, a total of 958,000 inbound and outbound trips were made by foreigners to and from China during the Spring Festival holidays, marking a 22.9 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Following the introduction of China's visa-free transit policy and the boom in China Travel, foreign travelers like Choi Jihoon from South Korea were able to enjoy Chinese museums during the Spring Festival break. Having traveled around cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou and ­Suzhou, Choi told the Global Times that he was able to see "the modernity and the classic aesthetics in Chinese culture" by visiting the Museum of Art Pudong and Suzhou Silk Museum. 

Among the provinces and cities with surging museum visitors during the Spring Festival holidays was Beijing. Its various museums received a total of 2.39 million visitors. Meanwhile, a total of 5.457 million visitors were received at 404 museums in Guangdong Province.