This week, everyone gets a chance to say '520' to science

A man experiences newest technologies at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on Saturday as the 17th National Science Week began.[Photo provided to China Daily]

At the palace's science interaction section, adults and children played games on virtual and augmented reality headsets. For those who prefer hands on activities, they can learn in simulators how to operate Jiaolong－China's manned deep-sea research submersible－or a 360-degree rotating pilot training pod. For relaxation, they can touch a live starfish or a horseshoe crab in a fish tank or color a flowerpot using mineral pigments.

"Seeing knowledge from textbooks come alive really helps students become interested in science," said Chen Hongcheng, a teacher at Beijing Yu Cai School, who led a group of elementary students there. "These events can be a relaxing and learning experience, especially seeing how technologies has benefited society."

In the middle of the palace lies the exhibition on how science has helped China's poverty-alleviation effort. It is packed with products from honey made in high-tech beehives to high yielding wheat grown from dry soil.

Zhu Lunfeng, a villager from the mountainous Zhashui county in Shaanxi province, said the provincial science department helped them build a 250 million yuan ($36 million) preserved flower industry that has lifted more than 700 villagers, mostly from Zhujiawan village, out of poverty.

"Preserved flowers are generally very dry and bleak, but scientists helped us create ones that have more humidity and longer shelf life," he said. "Our county is 90 percent mountain and forests, so having a product that is competitive really helps."

Most of the 700 villagers are earning more than 8,000 yuan per year, some even earn 20,000 yuan, which is much higher than the national poverty line, he said.

"Science has changed the fate of my people," he said. "It is '520', so I brought preserved roses from my hometown to show visitors my love for science and the country."