Chinese Museums to Celebrate Spring Festival

To embrace the Chinese horse year, many museums in China launch splendid horse-themed exhibitions and cultural activities. You can visit museums with your families and friends during the Spring Festival to appreciate the charm of Chinese culture!

Capital Museum

The Capital Museum will launch the zodiac exhibition “Royal Horse”.

In the exhibition hall, varieties of exhibits such as horses made of jade, terracotta, porcelain and those in the painting gathered together, revealing the close relationship between people and horse since ancient time. The exhibition, consisting of three parts “Tamed Horse”, “War-Horse” and “Life with Horse”, begins with the pottery horse in Tang dynasty, indicating the role of horse in Chinese civilization. The exquisite horse exhibits from different dynasties vividly demonstrate the relevant culture, attracting many people to take photos.

The Zodiac exhibition has been successively held for 7 years by the Capital Museum and received considerable acclaim. It is the typical exhibition of the museum during the Spring Festival.

During the Spring Festival, Capital Museum will also held activities such as “Creativity and Happiness”, “festival lantern” in the museum. The museum will close on January 30 and open from Lunar January 1 to Lunar January 7, when “Chinese Opera Play” and “Lantern Riddles Guessing” will be held.

Interactive program “I am on the horse back” is very popular.

Taipei Palace Museum

From January 24 to February 2, 2014, Taipei Palace Museum will hold varieties of folk activities such as “Writing Spring Couplets”, “Paper Cutting” and “Print Making”. You may enjoy the performance of folk artists there and receive the Spring Couplets written by the famous calligrapher.

Famous calligrapher are writing the Spring Couplets

At the same time, Taipei Palace Museum will launch two special exhibitions. One is the “Dingzhou White Porcelain Special Exhibition”, where the white porcelains, all from the museum collection, are exquisitely printed with patterns in fluent line. The exhibition opens until September 30, 2014. The other, highly recommended by the museum, is the “Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty: Shen Zhou” which features more than 60 works of Shen Zhou(the famous calligrapher and painter in Ming dynasty) on display. It opens until March 31. Besides, the museum will make a presentation of “Tea Set”, inviting visitors to taste the tea in the simplest way. 

Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty: Shen Zhou

Shandong Provincial Museum

During this Spring Festival, Shandong Provincial Museum collaborating with Prince Gong’s Mansion for the first time, launches the “Colorful Life: Exhibition of Folk New Year Paintings in Shandong”. The exhibition opens from January 16 to March 16 and is companied with many other folk activities. Besides, the two organizations reached an agreement that they will hold more exhibitions with local features, enhancing the spread and communication of local cultures.

“Colorful Life” exhibition post

Tianjin Museum

The well-planned “Exhibition of Shanghai Style Paintings” will be presented in Tianjin Museum during the Spring Festival.

It is known as the first original exhibition held by Tianjin Museum in recent years and all of its items are from the museum collection . Meanwhile, it is the first time that Tianjin Museum exhibits Shanghai style paintings comprehensively and systematically.

Apart from that, the museum will hold the winter camp, where children may learn to design and mak traditional clothes, with the guide of  professional teachers. It is a wonderful chance for children to learn and enjoy themselves!

The Winter Camp post

Hunan Provincial Museum

At the beginning of New Year, Hunan Provincial Museum is to launch a Chinese Poetry Recital during the period of bronze ware exhibition . During the Recital, you will be able to, in Chinese festival atmosphere, appreciate the exquisite bronze ware of late period in Hunan history. As long as you have prepared a poem concerning the New Year or the bronze ware, you can take part in the recital, after which, you will receive a souvenir from Hunan Provincial Museum.

Besides, educational activities such as the guide tour of “Looking Back History”, “Chinese Classic Music Instrument” and “Legendary Beasts” will be held there from lunar February 4 to 7. The place is on the first floor of the exhibition hall in Changsha Municipal Museum (Bayi Road, Qingshuitang). No need for registration,

Children were making the mask of legendary beasts

Guangxi Museum

Guangxi Museum will hold rich activities during the Spring Festival. Citizens especially teenagers may take the opportunity to  experience the folk customs.

The museum said that since January 31, those who visit all the exhibitions will get a gift (after showing the “visiting passport”). As for the activity “Learning about the Horse”, the first 20 teenagers (7-12 years old) who register in advance can join it on January 31. From January 31 to February 6, the temporary exhibition hall of the museum will introduce Chinese traditional festivals to people. Meanwhile, teenagers may make festival lantern, postcards, and window decoration etc in the Teenager Center. On January 31, the “Small History Bookstore” opens, offering many kinds of books for free.

In Guangxi Museum, “Trying on Han-Style Clothes” has been one of the most popular activities. The activity will continue in this Spring Festival to provide such clothes for visitors to try on from January 31 to February 2.

Suzhou Museum

From Lunar January 1 to 7, Suzhou Museum opens normally. During the period, there will be two special exhibitions about paintings and calligraphy works of Wen Zhengming and Wu Changshuo, accompanied with other activities.

The Spring Festival activities in the museum start on January 25. At that day, the Folk-Custom Museum (at Panru lane, number 38) will send out Spring couplets and woodcutting new year prints. Besides, visitors will have chances to learnabout the architectural designs of Ieoh Ming Pei in the Palace of Prince Zhong and make the model of Suzhou Museum there. On Lunar January 1, the first 50 visitors to the museum will get a gift given by the museum director. On Lunar January 3, 5, and 7, there will be the Guqin performance in the special exhibition hall underground. Please note: on January 30, Suzhou Museum closes at 4:00 pm, an hour earlier than usual days.

The newly decorated Folk- Custom Museum