Bringing museums to life

Cao Wei works as a guide at China Civil Aviation Museum. [Photo by Cheng Hongmei/For China Daily]

"Some people try to use all the 110 tickets, but often they find it boring to just see items on display without understanding their value," he says.

"So I think that public education that teaches people to understand the exhibitions is important," he says.

In 2013, Cao started free lectures for museum-goers and organized free tours.

So far his company has given 64 lectures, which include talks on many different perspectives of Chinese people's lives in ancient times.

The company has also organized 190 tours to exhibitions not only in Beijing but also in provinces such as Shaanxi and Hubei.

One Friday in April, the company organized a tour to Beijing's Fayuan Temple to learn about the 1,300-year-old temple.

"We told the participants: Today we are here to learn how to see a museum, but our goal is not to make you experts on museums, but to keep your curiosity and the ability to explore the unknown alive," he says.

Then, after they learnt about the history of the temple, the participants were told to look for lilac flowers with more than four petals.