China Focus: Museums at a click | Shanghai Daily

"Visiting a museum does no longer entails wandering around a brick-and-mortar building, looking at depressing antiques and boring introduction boards in today's China. Now, downloading a mobile app or scanning a barcode can be equally educational and entertaining. In the run up to this year's International Museum Day (IMD), which falls on May 18, museums across China have been putting a lot of effort into developing mobile applications and brainstorming creative ways to present their artifacts. The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City ,in Beijing has released a new app in April that enables smartphone users to better interact with treasured ceramics. The developers imaged 400 items from the 350,000 ceramics stored at the museum. By downloading the app, visitors can get a 360-degree view of the chosen items and a voice guide explaining details. It's not the first time the world's most visited museum has dabbled with the irresistible 'smart' trend. In January, the museum launched an interactive app on an ancient Chinese painting. By allowing viewers to explore the settings and different facial expressions of more than 40 figures in the painting, the app offers a glimpse of the lifestyle of the ruling class in ancient China. The Shaanxi History Museum in the northwestern city of Xi'an has been a pioneer in using a digital platform for exhibiting antiques. So far, 208 public and private museums and memorials in Shaanxi Province have opened online exhibition halls. In the past three years, more than 500,000 visitors from 100 countries have gained access to the rich cultural heritage and history of China through the digital museum, said Shao Xiaolong, director of the provincial cultural relics data center ..."