Wonders of time travel spur jaunts of discovery

Overseas relics build interest

With more international cooperation between museums from China and abroad in recent years, visitors can now view various overseas exhibits without leaving the country, making museum travel more attractive.

In 2021, Suzhou Museum in the eponymous city in East China's Jiangsu province, launched a long-term collaboration to present a series of exhibitions on ancient civilizations, such as Roman and Greek, showcasing the enviable collection from the British Museum.

The ongoing exhibition I Am Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria, which will end in August 2025, sheds light on the lesser-known civilization of Assyria (9th century-6th century BC).

"Each exhibition lasts a year, ensuring that visitors are constantly attracted to and engaged by our offerings. By attending the exhibitions, they achieve a unique experience," says Xie Xiaoting, the museum's curator.

Suzhou Museum has conducted three surveys on these exhibitions. Data showed that about 60 percent of the visitors came from regions outside Suzhou, with about 40 percent coming from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai, which are adjacent to Suzhou.

"Young visitors prefer interactive experiences and have higher expectations for exhibitions, rather than passively receiving information. We try our best to inspire them to delve deeper into the stories behind the exhibits as we curate them," Xie says.

For instance, visitors can smell the scents of common flowers and spices from the Assyrian period at the exhibition.

According to Xie, digitalization offers a potential solution to visitor overcrowding by allowing people to see a digital version instead. When the museum reaches a certain number of visitors, an alarm will be triggered to prompt staff members to take measures to manage the flow.