Virtual visits reveal museums' magic

"When the museum was closed, its inner operations and management continued with more procedures like increased disinfection and staff temperature checks," he says.

A magnitude-5.1 earthquake struck Chengdu in early February, and the museum's staff checked that all the relics and storehouses were safe and later announced it online.

Suzhou Museum and Chengdu Museum are among the many museums that have reopened since last week as the epidemic situation improves.

Suzhou Museum's visitors must present ID cards and health QR codes.

A robot checks their temperatures at the entrance, and another robot inside supervises tourist flows in real time to restrict the number to no more than 200.

It has trained staff, improved the booking system to limit daily visits, improved hygiene and disinfection and performed an emergency drill, Mao says.

Zhang from Sichuan Museum agrees that it's essential to restrict daily visits to lower infection risks. Staff members explain this to on-site guests and promote prevention education.

Sichuan Museum is hosting two temporary exhibitions. One shows 134 artifacts from the Italian Archaeological Park of Paestum that presents the ancient Greek period's culture. The other displays over 200 relics that Chengdu Customs has recovered from smuggling rings in recent years.

Zhang says tourists become interested in the exhibitions after learning about them online before visiting, so the museum decided to extend the shows until May 10.