With 162 museums, Shanghai far exceeds the national average
Shanghai Museum of Glass
International Museum Day was celebrated at the Shanghai Museum of Glass on Thursday.
Shanghai had registered 162 museums as of May, or one museum per 150,000 people of its permanent population, far exceeding the nation's average, the city's cultural and tourism authorities announced on Thursday, marked as International Museum Day.
As of the end of last year, the city had registered 159 museums, according to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.
Among them, 47 were history-themed museums and nine were themed on art. Another seven fell into the category of natural science and technology.
The rest were either comprehensive museums or museums with other themes.
In total, 129 are open to the public for free.
Among the museums, 109 were in downtown areas.
Based on Shanghai's land space, there was a museum every 39.9 square kilometers, ranking top in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Last year, museums across the city recorded 9.71 million visits.
The Memorial of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and the Shanghai Natural History Museum had the largest number of visits, respectively.
Local museums had a collection of 2.25 million items by the end of last year, including 223,000 valuable cultural relics. Half were collected by the Shanghai Museum.
Some of the city's museums were honored on Thursday.
This year's theme of International Museum Day is "Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing."
In Shanghai, the theme is "Museum empowers a better life."
Work is on in full swing as Shanghai looks to create a world-class "capital of museum" under the strategy of the city's "Big Museum" plan, relying on its museum resource advantages, according to Fang Shizhong, director general of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.
Towards this end, the city will develop cultural landmarks and build a world-class museum cluster, stimulate the innovation vitality of museums, and deepen culture and tourism integration, Fang said.
A slew of activities was rolled out across the city to celebrate the day.
A total of 125 museums in the city offered free or discounted admissions.
Exhibitions are one of the reasons behind residents and tourists' love of the city.
A number of heavyweight exhibitions have been launched, taking residents and tourists on diversified cultural tours.
Children have fun at the Shanghai Museum of Glass on Thursday.
Among these, the Shanghai Museum has raised the curtain on "Pages through the Ages: A selection of the Song and Yuan Rare Books," featuring the display of a collection of 66 precious ancient books.
At the Fengxian District Museum, people are able to learn the evolution and experience the charm of Chinese characters at another exhibition.
Museums in Shanghai have also launched barrier-free guided tours and improved their barrier-free facilities.
The Shanghai Museum of Glass unveiled a metaverse action plan on Thursday, presenting an immersive real-time 3D virtual experience, and creating a unique exploration experience blending art and science.
Xuhui District has launched a music-themed museum tour, and city walking tours were organized in Yangpu District.
Guests tour the Shanghai Museum of Glass on Thursday.
