Despite museums overflowing with visitors during recent holidays, shortage of professionals remains

A standing bronze statue is moved into a cabinet for an upcoming exhibition at the Shanghai Museum ahead of the inauguration of a new venue in Pudong New Area. The statue, unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan province, demonstrates the high level of civilization in Sichuan some 3,000 years ago. [LIU YING/XINHUA]

During the recent Spring Festival holiday, China witnessed a notable surge in domestic tourism, with record-high expenditure spent on domestic travel.

Liu Jieyi, spokesman for the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, emphasized at a news conference on Sunday that the surge reflects the significant consumption potential of the Chinese people, driven by a desire to enhance their quality of life, and is poised to become a strong driver of economic development.

The surge in tourism coincided with increased demand to visit museums during the holiday, leading to challenges for many individuals in securing tickets.

Museums have become a widely discussed topic, prominently featured during the provincial two sessions in many regions. Statistics from the National Cultural Heritage Administration revealed that last year, museums in China welcomed 1.24 billion visits, surpassing the 2019 pre-pandemic figure of 1.23 billion.

"The popularity of museums has not only recovered to the state before the pandemic, but also surpassed it," said Pan Shouyong, a museum expert at Shanghai University.

Further bolstering museums, progress has also been made in cultural heritage protection, archaeological studies and talent cultivation in this area, with China seeing "major progress made in the cultural heritage field in the last year", Li Qun, director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at a national conference held in Beijing in January.

Pan worked with cultural heritage professionals at a seminar in February to evaluate the performances of museums in the last year, and has issued lists of the most influential museums and exhibitions based on their popularity.