CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- July 20 and 21 are the first two-day weekend that the free museums in Chongqing cancelled reservation. Do visitors recognize the operation mode of museums changing from “arrival with prior reservation” to “arrival without prior reservation”?

On July 22, as a first-class museum cancelling reservation, Chongqing Natural History Museum released its statistics about the two days before, indicating that there were about 10,000 visitors arriving at the museum, increasing by 1/3 in the number of visitors compared with the past.

Among other free museums canceling reservation in Chongqing, including Chongqing Industrial Museum, Bashu Ancient Architecture Museum, Banan Museum and Nan’an Museum, they also saw a sharp increase in the number audiences.

Teenagers “came together in groups”

Children are regular visitors to museums during the summer vacation. With reservation cancelled, children have been the biggest beneficiaries.

“Originally, when I made a fuss about going to a museum, my dad always said that he couldn’t get a reservation on weekends, but now he has no ‘excuse’.” In Chongqing Natural History Museum, Wang Xinbo, who traveled from Jiangbei, was a little smug when he talked about his experience.

Facing his son’s “complaint”, Wang Yu pulled a wry face. For this “unplanned” trip to the museum, Wang Yu did a full preparation, understood various exhibition halls, and crammed for the knowledge of dinosaurs in advance. During the process, he would first browse the information displayed on board, and then explain to his son, and even operate interactive facilities with his son. He said that “hands-on practice is easier for him to understand the corresponding knowledge than reading.”

Zhou Yuelin and Zhang Yufeng, who took the rail transit from Yubei to Chongqing Natural History Museum, are both second-year students. They said that “our school assigned homework to visit a museum, and we came in pairs when we heard that the museum didn’t need reservation anymore.”

Although they were not accompanied by their parents, they collaborated well, and respectively recorded the knowledge to be used in their homework. “We can see whatever we want, for as long as we want, and we don’t have to worry about mom and dad rushing us to the next hall.” Zhou Yuelin said that they were ready to stay in the Dinosaur Hall all the day.

Gao Bichun, Curator of Chongqing Natural History Museum, said that on the first weekend of the reservation-free period, there was a significant increase in the number of teenagers coming alone. “Most of them came in groups of three or five with a common goal, and they can be called like-minded little museum enthusiasts.”

Enthusiasts of cultural relic museums “had been to museums when they wanted”

For enthusiasts of cultural relic museums, visiting museums is an important part of their trip to a city.

Zhang Yuelin, who traveled to Chongqing from Wuhan, is one of the enthusiasts of cultural relic museums. “Before departure, Chongqing had not announced that the museums are free of reservation. When I just arrived in Chongqing, I saw the news, and I felt that Chongqing gave a big gift to me.” Zhang Yuelin, who visited Chongqing Industrial Museum, said that in order to better visit various museums in Chongqing, she also made a special trip plan before departure. She said: “Now, this plan is completely useless, because I can spend enough time in visiting a museum and then go to the next one. And I do not have to worry about reservation.”

Fang Huawei, who traveled to Chongqing with his families from Guizhou, also praised the reservation-free measure that “After strolling through the attractions, we can then seamlessly go to nearby museums, increasing knowledge, and meeting different preferences of my families.”

Chongqing cancelled the museum reservation so that museums have become “hot destinations” for tourists, but the attractions for tourists to visit the museums were still fine exhibitions and activities.

According to the relevant person in charge of Chongqing Municipal Culture and Tourism Development Commission, Chongqing is currently taking a variety of initiatives to turn “hot destinations” into “good destinations”: first, encourage free museums to jointly organize exhibitions, loan for exhibitions and take other means to plan and launch high-quality original exhibitions; second, vigorously promote the transformation of museums from physical museum to digital museum to accelerate the construction of “Chongqing Online Museums” to expand museum communication channels; and finally enhance the visitor’s experience through stage performances, immersive experiences, virtual exhibition halls and other new ways for heritage revitalization.

Enthusiasts of literature and art “took photos”

In addition to teenagers and enthusiasts of cultural relic museums, there are others who don’t need a special reason to go to a museum on a hot day. For them, it is a best choice to hang out and take photos in a museum space.

Guo Moruo Memorial Hall in Shapingba District has received more visitors than usual in the past two days. The exhibition themed on “Mi Fu and His Times” just launched is one factor attracting visitors, and the museum’s ancient architecture is the other important factor.

When you search for “museums” on social media, in addition to exhibition information and exhibits, you’ll often see some photos carefully taken and chosen, so taking photos is another reason to go to the museum.

Wang Ya, a post-90s girl, specially put on a neo Chinese style black coat to fit the environment of the exhibition hall of Guo Moruo Memorial Hall. Previously, her companions and she saw many Chinese-style photos taken by young people in museums on Xiaohongshu, so they met on the weekend to enjoy exhibition and take photos in Guo Moruo Memorial Hall near their school. (Translated by Vichy, Fathom Language Limited)