The Weapons Museum of Nanjing University of Science and Technology (Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)
During the school holiday, museums located within universities across Jiangsu Province saw a surge in popularity due to their distinctive exhibits, various themes and professional curation.
The Weapons Museum of Nanjing University of Science and Technology (CFP file photo)
At 10 am on a weekend day, many visitors were observed lining up at the entrance of the Weapons Museum of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology. Like a historical book on Chinese military science and technology, the facility was so popular that visitors had to book their tickets online days in advance.
The aerospace education and practice base of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)
Most visitors to university museums were families with children. Liu Minjie, a resident of Nanjing, along with her child, explored several university museums during the holiday. The child found the aerospace education and practice base at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics particularly thrilling as it offered an up-close look at rockets and artillery, complemented by detailed explanations.
The China Agricultural Civilization Museum at Nanjing Agricultural University (Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)
Other notable mentions include the Museum of Nanjing University, the China Agricultural Civilization Museum at Nanjing Agricultural University, the Nanjing China Fingerprint Museum at the Jiangsu Police Institute, the Currency Museum at Nanjing Audit University, the Pharmaceutical Museum at China Pharmaceutical University, and the Herbarium Museum at Nanjing Forestry University.
These specialized museums have gained popularity on social media, with tags such as “university museums recommended," and have attracted significant attention.
Jiangsu’s universities boast a strong connection to museums. For example, the Nantong Museum, established in 1905 by renowned Chinese industrialist and educator Zhang Jian, stands as the country’s first public museum founded by a Chinese. Zhang founded the Tongzhou Normal College in 1902, and then set up the museum to support the college’s development.
Nanjing China Fingerprint Museum at the Jiangsu Police Institute (Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)
The Nanjing China Fingerprint Museum is the only one of its kind in China and the world, according to Ning Junli, the museum’s deputy director. Established in 2007, the museum houses more than 10,000 fingerprint-related exhibits. It received nearly 20 tour groups during the winter holiday.
The Museum of Nanjing University is home to nearly 600 pieces of oracle bone scripts, the oldest surviving form of Chinese writing dating back to the Shang Dynasty (around 1600 BC- 1046 BC). The museum enhances visitor engagement through guided tours led by professors, conducting 24 such sessions last year.
The China Agricultural Civilization Museum, the first of its kind within a university setting, makes systematic collection, research and display of the history and culture of Chinese agriculture. With a floor area of 2,000 sqm, it showcases over 1,000 ancient agricultural tools, over 3,000 ancient agricultural books, various artifacts associated with agricultural life and culture, and soil specimens from home and abroad.
A tieao, an iron griddle (Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)
The museum’s deputy curator Lu Yong highlighted a tieao, an iron cooking utensil from the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-24 AD), as a key exhibit. This artifact demonstrates advanced iron casting techniques of the era and dietary changes.
A view of the book Qi Min Yao Shu, an agricultural encyclopedia (Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)
The museum also possesses one of China’s two copies of Qi Min Yao Shu, the most completely preserved ancient Chinese agricultural text, with the other copy residing in the Shanghai Museum.
