On a typical weekday, the museum sees about 10,000 visitors per day, while on the weekends, the number triples. This is NO small amount for one museum. Relative to the densely populated city of Beijing, this one museum is far from capable of meeting the demand. And the result?

College Student, said, "There are so many kids here, the damage to some of the exhibition equipment is apparent, particularly to switches and control buttons on the exhibition items. Also, it’s rather loud here. But it’s understandable for children and natural for any museum like this."

Visitor said, "I wish guides could provide more explanation. When I was in elementary school, I went to the science and technology museum, and used the microscope and observed insects and frogs. It was all relatively simple. But now, we explore genes, the universe, and things we've never seen before, far more complicated, so it would be nice to have someone explain it."

Huang Timao, Deputy Dir.-Gen., China Science & Technology Museum, said, "Because there are so many visitors here on the weekends, the quality of the experience has been affected. Inevitably, it has resulted in damage to some of the exhibits. We have a special department in charge of maintenance, and we are making a strong effort to encourage people to come during the weekdays."

Having realized the great demand for museums, cities around the country have or are in the process of building up their own. But, at the moment, museums of the scale of the China Science and Technology Museum are limited to Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. It's unrealistic to expect them all to be of such grand size. Instead, a museum's size should correspond with the city's population, economic conditions, and demands. At the same time, no matter large or small, it's what the museum provides on the inside that matters most.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments