The Guangdong Museum, located in Guangzhou's Tianhe district, was recently chosen to be among the new batch of national-level key museums jointly created by the central and local governments. It is the only museum in South China to make the list.

The new batch of national-level key museums jointly created by the central and local governments was selected by the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Ministry of Finance. It includes 15 museums, four of which have been newly selected.

A bird's-eye view of the Guangdong Museum. [Photo/Southern Daily]

The Guangdong Museum opened to the public in 1959 and features a combined floor area of 77,000 square meters. It now has a collection of more than 320,000 pieces/sets, such as relics from the ancient Marine Silk Road and the Nan'ao 1 shipwrecks.

The museum presents over 200 exhibitions a year, attracting nearly 40 million visitors. It has become the only venue in China to claim the award of "top 10 fine exhibitions", the highest honor in the Chinese museum industry, for 11 consecutive years.

It has also launched two journals, Wen Bo Xue Kan (Journal of Cultural Relics and Museums) and Yi Shu Yu Min Su (Art and Folk Customs), which serve as platforms for academic exchange.

Students pose for a group photo as they join the venue's "Museum in a Shoebox" activity. [Photo/Southern Daily]

It also set up four centers for research into visual anthropology, research on the protection of marine relics, research on the export of works of art, and collaborative sci-tech innovation in Guangdong province, as well as the first post-doctoral research station for cultural relics and museums in South China.

Moreover, the museum is one of three pilot projects of national smart museums, aiming at smart management, smart services and the digitally supported protection of relics.