Chinese New Year comes to the museums

The Spring Festival, which marks the start of the new year according to the lunar calendar, is a very important occasion in Chinese tradition.

During the next Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 14th, Beijingers can choose to go to any of a total of 130 museums to celebrate the occasion. Some 300 exhibitions, featuring a wide array of cultural dishes, will be available for their enjoyment.

According to Cui Guoming, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Chinese way of celebrating the new year has changed along with the entire society.

"Changes have taken place in how we celebrate the Spring Festival nowadays, and people are more interested in participating in cultural activities. Museums carry this kind of responsibility. To meet citizens' cultural demands, we'll hold a series of activities catering to all ages and providing more activities," Cui told CRI.

The cultural activities will be divided into three categories: exhibitions on Chinese culture; lectures and historic folk customs; and activities, such as temple fairs and park events that citizens can participate in.

At the Capital Museum in Beijing, people can view many cultural relics, enjoy Chinese opera and learn to make Chinese knots, paper cuttings and small cloth tigers for decoration.

Local people think that this is a good way to highlight Chinese traditions on the most important celebration of the year.

"I think it is very good, and this is an innovation. To celebrate the Spring Festival by going to museums is a very good way to reduce the distance between local people and museums, and it gives people more chances to learn about and experience Chinese culture," long-time Beijing resident Diao Songquan told CRI.