Museums giving the past a future

"It's a new experience, a combination of civilization and modern high-tech," Wang said.

The popularity of digital cultural relics with the public has resulted in more museums exploring the concept. A bird-shaped wine container from the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC) named fu hao xiao zun, one of the most famous treasures exhibited in the Henan Provincial Museum, was digitized and sold online in December.

Digitized cultural relics are a new form of cultural creative products, said Ma Xiaolin, head of the museum in Henan. "It uses block chain technology to generate a unique certificate through which the product can be sold, purchased, collected and used."

Together with Alipay, the museum launched the applet "Let's do archaeology together". It attracted more than 30 million visits during the seven-day National Day holiday in 2021.

"I think museums have two functions-to remember and to spread Chinese culture," said Yu Lin, manager of the development department at Ant Group.

"I hope new technologies will promote Chinese culture in a way the younger generation is happy to receive it."