The resonance of time stories in the "Time Museum" | Time | Museum

Outside the red container, the five words "Time Museum" flickered with white light. At the entrance of the green lawn, people lined up in long lines, waiting to enter the space composed of these containers. Inside, it carries decades of memories of the Chinese people.

On April 21st, the 2023 "Time Museum" mobile exhibition organized and planned by the People's Daily New Media Center was launched in full swing at Xuanwu Lake Park in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. In just four days, over 4000 visitors came to admire the carefully arranged "New Journey and Starting Again" exhibition, experiencing China's achievements since the new era and reminiscing about the glorious journey of the Party leading the people in their struggle over the years.

This summer, starting from Nanjing, this "Time Museum" traveled all the way to Zhenjiang, Xuzhou, and other places, bringing the story of time to meet audiences from all over. The scorching weather witnessed people's passion for this "Time Museum".

The People's Daily "Time Museum" has been around for 5 years, and this museum itself has become a witness to time.

Immersive and immersive experience

Feeling the remarkable determination and courage of the country

On the afternoon of April 22nd, two special guests arrived at the Time Museum, and their spouse pushed 84 year old Grandpa Wu to the entrance of the museum. They saw the introduction on TV and wanted to come and see this special museum. Considering the elderly's age, the staff repeatedly asked the two elderly people if the stairs were slightly steep and would it be unsafe. Grandpa still stood up and, with the help of his grandmother and staff, slowly climbed the stairs step by step to visit.

Since its opening, visitors have always given great likes to the Time Museum. As the first group of visitors, Mr. Gao, a tourist from Shanxi who came to Nanjing for tourism, was very excited after visiting.

Walking into this "Red House" modified by two double decker double expansion giant box cars, the "Fuxing" high-speed railway, the "Tiangong" space station, and the fusion of ancient and modern "New Thousand Li Rivers and Mountains" all come into view. The exhibition area, consisting of a painted shield tunneling machine, a cloud covered Great Wall, and AR viewing, showcases extraordinary achievements in the new era over the past decade through the combination of physical objects, images, and interactive experiences.

The interactivity of the exhibition is very strong. In front of the "Cloud Tour of the Great Wall" interactive device, visitors can experience the beautiful scene of the Great Wall at dawn and dusk by clicking on the screen, and experience the Great Wall restoration work in the game interaction; In the "Interactive Track Screen" area, national key achievement videos produced by central online media are independently selected for playback through interactive on-demand, attracting visitors to stop and watch with exciting and rich content; In front of the interactive screen of the coating shield machine based on the domestic largest diameter earth pressure balance shield machine "Jinxiu" and the domestic largest diameter shield machine "Jinghua", visitors lined up to participate in the interaction, and felt the hard core romance of the combination of China-Chic and major countries in the coating game

"Full of creativity, beyond expectations! Each detail and scene vividly presents a beautiful picture of life," Qi Qi, who lives in Yajule Community, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, excitedly said. When she walked into the Time Museum, the Light and Shadow Gallery was playing the Jiangsu chapter of "New Thousand Li Rivers and Mountains". The vivid scenes made people feel as if they were wandering among green mountains and rivers, feeling the beauty of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

In terms of narrative style, the "Time Museum" adopts a popular approach, presenting the achievements of China's digital network, intelligent manufacturing, aerospace, rural revitalization, green ecology and other fields through immersive spatial creative exhibitions, making it accessible. New technological means and special effects production have brought visitors a more realistic and intuitive experience.

Therefore, the "Time Museum" brings a very immersive experience to the audience.

When it comes to which aspect she is most interested in, Jiang, a senior girl, said that what impressed her the most was the model of China Petroleum Shuanghu Gas Station. The highest gas station in the world is located in Shuanghu County, Naqu City, Xizang Autonomous Region. "Imagine the conditions there, it's hard to build a gas station to serve the traffic. But it's only in difficult places that there is still smooth traffic that every corner of our country can undergo earth shattering changes. This is a remarkable determination and courage of our country!"

Every time you go, the "Time Museum" brings local characteristics and enters the lives of local people.

The first stop of the "Time Museum" mobile exhibition in 2023 was chosen at Xuanwu Lake Park in Nanjing, where people of all ages are relatively concentrated. It was localized and transformed according to the characteristics of Jiangsu, and multiple intangible cultural heritage performances were carefully planned and organized. Kunqu opera, Nanjing Baiju, velvet flower production, and Jinling scripture carving and printing techniques showcased, allowing visitors to truly experience the rapidly changing urban development and rich and colorful local culture.

The brand "Time Museum", founded by People's Daily New Media in 2018, has always hoped to create its own time story for visitors with a common Chinese memory and the most unique local characteristics. In Kuanzhai Alley of Chengdu, in the "Time Classroom" of the "Time Caravan", retired teacher Du Xuezhao from Chengdu Shishi Middle School and his 48 year old students held a "special class meeting" to talk about the changes in our country, personal growth, and life. In Shenzhen, a drone performance by the Shenzhen Bay lit up the night sky, showcasing the coolness of high-tech; In Xi'an, the "Time Concert" and the song "Orchid Flower" are full of the charm of northern Shaanxi

The planning team of the People's Daily's new media "Time Museum" stated that the small "Time Museum" embodies the grand narrative of China's changes as the transformation of classic scenes such as clothing, food, housing, and transportation that everyone can perceive. It materializes memory and makes it touchable and perceptible through interaction. The combination of offline exhibitions and online dissemination allows every person who comes to the Time Museum to check-in to become both a visitor and a storyteller, thus forming a fission dissemination of "participation sharing re participation re sharing".

Exhibition themes with unique features

In the past decade of the new era, the world has grown bigger and smaller

The 2023 "Time Museum" mobile exhibition, with the theme of "Starting Again on a New Journey" and the latest achievements in media integration as carriers, has set up six theme exhibition areas: "Glorious Journey", "Digital Future", "China Coordinates", "Starry Ocean", "Beauty and Co existence", and "Pursuing Dreams in a New Era", comprehensively reviewing the extraordinary achievements of the new era in the past decade.

In the "Glorious Journey" exhibition area, the beautiful long scroll of Chinese style painting condenses the magnificent development process of China. In the light and shadow tunnel composed of the "New Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", the beautiful China is painted in one second, creating a vibrant and thriving painting of China.

In the "Digital Future" exhibition area, nearly a hundred excellent integrated media products from central media were showcased. Under the theme of "Innovation and Technology Leading the Development of the Times", the latest achievements in deep integration of content, technology and other fields attracted many visitors to stop and watch.

In the "China Coordinates" exhibition area, a multi-dimensional three-dimensional display of major national weapons is presented from height, span, accuracy, speed, strength, depth, and other dimensions. Physical models such as the Long March 2F rocket, extremely small diameter milling cutter, and domestically produced Galaxy Kirin operating system are displayed, attracting the attention of visitors.

In the "Starry Sea" exhibition area, spacecraft models+video demonstrations simulate real space scenes, and retro televisions loop through major aerospace events from the past 30 years. "Shenzhou" flies into the sky, "Heavenly Palace" travels, "Chang'e" gathers the moon, "Zhurong" explores the fire... It sprinkles romance into the universe, forming a unique sea of stars for the Chinese people.

In the "Beauty and Harmony" exhibition area, the scenes of green China, rural revitalization, and people's happiness slowly unfold, picking the birds and flowers in the mountains and rivers, savoring the fireworks in the years, and witnessing the people's journey towards a happier and better life.

In the "Dream Chasing New Era" exhibition area, smiling face photos show the beautiful prospect of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization.

A good exhibition always inspires each other with the audience.

After watching the exhibition, Mr. Zhu, a visitor, talked about his deepest feeling in the past decade of the new era, which is that the world has become bigger and smaller. "With the continuous development of China's high-speed rail, people can go to many places that were previously unimaginable and feel that the world has become bigger. However, due to the acceleration of high-speed rail, it seems that it can be reached anywhere in Jiangsu Province in just over an hour, and the convenience makes people feel that the distance is right in front of them."

After watching the "Time Museum", at the themed education party class of the School of Art and Design at Yangzhou Vocational and Technical College of Industry, the students showed their hand drawn scenes of the Time Museum combined with their professional expertise. Under the pen of the students, everything from the "Time Museum" itself to Chang'e's moon exploration, Tianwen's fire exploration, Xihe's daily patrols, space station patrols, and even the Chinese speed of the "Fuxing" spacecraft has been recreated on the drawing board.

Time flies like a shuttle, and since October 26, 2018, the "Time Museum" has set sail for the third time from Sanlitun, Beijing.

In 2018, People's Daily New Media launched the "Time Museum" to pay tribute to the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up, vividly presenting the changes in people's lifestyles such as clothing, food, housing, and transportation over the past 40 years through creative exhibitions and fun interactions. In the five major exhibition halls of "Time Grocery Shop", "Era Photo Studio", "Wonderful Time and Space House", "Time Transportation Bureau", and "Sound Museum", 40 years of memory become tangible and perceptible entities, leading people to "travel" through history and relive the beautiful times. The term "Time Museum" was also selected as one of the "Top 10 Popular Words in Social Life in 2018".

In 2019, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the "Time Museum" was fully upgraded, with the theme of "Flowing Time, Moving China". The 70 year life memories of the people were "loaded" into two time caravans, embarking on a national exhibition tour. In the infield area, the "Time Museum" revolves around the changes in clothing, food, housing, transportation, culture, education, and other aspects closely related to Chinese life over the past 70 years, creating an immersive exhibition experience. In the outdoor area, the "Time Museum" recreates the most popular song performances and outdoor movies in 70 years, plans two special performances: the Era Music Show and the Time Screening Hall, and collaborates with multiple brands to launch the Time "Newspaper" joint exhibition.

Now, this "red house" departs from Nanjing, Jiangsu and passes through cities such as Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, and Xuzhou for exhibitions, and will continue to penetrate various parts of the country.

There is countless resonance in the story

Leave four simple words: China Go

From 2018 to 2023, the five years of stories in the Time Museum have resonated with countless viewers, including memories, friendships, and struggles.

For some people, time carries old memories, unforgettable old objects, and a history of past struggles; For some people, time leads to new changes, which are new achievements in development and new expectations for the future; For most people, the "Time Museum" is like a cinema, with movies from different eras playing in each hall. People immerse themselves in vivid history, gathering resonance across eras and ages.

There are memories in the story of time.

"Come and take a look, my wife. The first TV we bought was in this style." In the "Wonderful Time and Space House" of the "Time Museum" in 2018, on a wooden cabinet full of nostalgia, an old TV excited Yang Jianguo. In the early 1980s, Yang Jianguo was one of the first people in the village to purchase a television, and his home became a "public cinema" as a result. "Before 7 p.m., many people in the village put down their work ahead of time, took small benches and gathered in front of my TV set to watch CCTV News and feature films. I still remember this picture."

A father specially brought his 8-year-old and 11-year-old children here to show them their childhood and growth. The old photos in the "Sound Museum", the coal stoves in the alleyway, the mini "overpass table", childhood playmates "Iron Frog" and "Southeast Northwest" have become surprising creatures for children. As teenagers, they feel the youth and memories of their parents.

There is friendship in the story of time.

In 2018, the "Time Museum" Shanghai station welcomed five middle-aged people after its first day of closure. They expressed regret for remembering the wrong time. These five middle-aged people are high school classmates. After finishing high school in Shanghai, they went their separate ways and specifically chose the "Time Museum" as the gathering place. After understanding the situation, the staff reopened the door and the five of them excitedly reminisced about their high school days in front of the tape wall, sharing their stories over the years. In the days of parting, everyone has their own fate, but the songs we have heard together and the years we have experienced together will never fade.

In the story of time, there is struggle.

That year, a "Time Train" was also set up at the Shenzhen Station of the "Time Museum". Sitting in the green car in my memory, looking back at the winter of 1978, people who had beautiful expectations for the future 40 years ago came to Shenzhen like a tide, striving to find their place in this city through entrepreneurship, assembly lines, and every struggle scene.

Mr. Pu, born in 1965, worked as an engineering supervisor. However, when he traveled to Hainan with his family in 2007, his daughter unintentionally said, "Let's live in a coastal city. I want to see the sea every day." On the last day of 2009, he and his family moved from Xinjiang to Shenzhen, where they saw a bigger world. "If you don't spell it out once, you never know where the boundaries of your abilities lie."

The story of time silently records the extraordinary development path that the entire country has gone through together.

In this year's "Time Museum", there are brilliant achievements in China's development over the past decade of the new era, and each exhibition area embodies the fruits of people's common struggle. In front of the message wall, visitors wrote down their thoughts and feelings: "Good creativity and good expression, new media writes about the new era", "Reading for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", "China's technology surpasses the world".

The story of time connects the past and leads to the future. Some elderly people specifically take a look at the old objects in their memory, while others solemnly leave a message on the sticky note wall, "I want to grow up and become a police officer to protect the people.". There are more people who, while visiting, take into account the changes and developments of the times.

In Nanjing, a mother came to visit with her 5-year-old child. Seeing the message wall filled with heartfelt feelings, the child said he also wanted to write a message. He held his pen tightly and, under his mother's guidance, wrote stroke by stroke. After finishing, he carefully pasted it on the message wall.

After the children left, there were four simple words left on the note: Go China.

The accompanying images in this article are all photos of the 2023 "Time Museum" mobile exhibition held in Nanjing, Jiangsu.

Photo provided by People's Daily New Media Center