Visitors play a ring-toss game at the Hai'an Museum. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

A series of International Museum Day and China Tourism Day events was launched at the Hai'an Museum on May 17.

The atmosphere was lively with a mix of ancient-style gatherings, intangible cultural heritage experiences, and fun challenges, aiming to bring history out of the display cases and make it visible, playable, and hands-on.

Under the courtyard's magnolia trees, five themed booths were set up for creative cultural products and traditional crafts. Visitors could find colorful gourd paintings, Nantong pyrography, Hai'an fish rubbing, handwoven ornaments, and paper-cuttings.

Inside Nanmu Hall, the soft sound of the guqin (a seven-stringed Chinese zither) filled the air. In the small hall's corridor, people gathered around go chess games. By a wall, calligraphy lovers practiced their brushwork. Meanwhile, the museum's exhibition halls offered hands-on activities like rubbing and cultural relic restoration.

Challenges including arrow throwing, ring tossing, games of go, and poem reciting also added more fun to the day.

Hai'an also released its cultural and tourism events exclusive to summer, including a Peking Opera gathering on May 22, an acrobatics tour on May 23, a bronzeware exhibition on May 28, a nighttime show in mid-June featuring flower drums and dragon dances, and more night markets and performances in July and August.

"With these new initiatives, we're trying to make traditional exhibitions more engaging and interactive," said Ji Jiaming, director of the Hai'an Museum.