Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China is a highly interactive exhibit aimed at helping children, parents and educators gain a better understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture and contemporary life. The exhibit presents the lives of four children in recreated environments based on their real homes, schools, theaters, city and countryside. The Chinese children introduce themselves through media and the familiar activities of their daily lives. Exhibition experiences engage children in learning how:
Chinese life today mixes ancient traditions with modern lifestyles; life for Chinese is both similar to and different from life in North America; and Chinese children are a bridge to learning about China and building cross-cultural understanding. The exhibit features original artwork created to present a unique Chinese aesthetic and geared to deliver an immediate and unmistakable message: You are in China.

The exhibition is guided by Chinese children who “talk” directly to the visitors. Media diaries of each child will give personal meaning to each component. 

Here are the four children whose stories are featured in the exhibit:

Weicheng is a boy who lives in a middle-class Hangzhou apartment with his parents and grandparents. Weicheng plays on the computer and practices the cello. Weicheng is helping to prepare for his grandmother’s 62nd birthday celebration. Weicheng learns to make long life noodles for his grandmother, as well as other Hangzhou dishes. Through Weicheng, visitors learn about family structure, relationships, values, and history. They will see decorative objects, including folk art, cooking utensils, games, and toys.

Doudou lives in the city of Hangzhou but goes to visit her grandparents in the countryside weekly.  Her grandparents are rice farmers who live an hour away from the city by car. When Doudou visits, she learns about rice planting, weaving and rice pounding from her grandparents. Visitors will learn that the countryside is the root of many Chinese families, hence the endearing phrase “lao jia” in Chinese, the old home.

Gangzheng is a student at Baochuta Middle School. He studies hard but his true passion is sports. Gangzheng is an expert in basket ball, ping-pong, badminton, and Chinese traditional sports, such as jianzi, Chinese shuttlecock. We meet him in his school to learn about school life in Hangzhou, and watch him play sports when school is over. 

Qianyun is a young opera student. Much like an ordinary teenager everywhere in the world, Qianyun hangs out with her friends and enjoys shopping and chatting on the phone. However, following the example of her parents, Qianyun studies yueju opera professionally and hopes to become an outstanding performing artist in a very traditional art-form.  She introduces Chinese opera to visitors, about its music, movement and costumes, through White Snake Lady, a popular folk tale set in Hangzhou.

The exhibition is organized into the following components: 

• Bus Stop, where visitors “enter” Hangzhou, China and meet the four children;
• Wu Lin Men Apartments, where visitors meet Weicheng and his family in their apartment, and learn to cook a birthday meal for his grandmother;
• Yellow Dragon Theater, where visitors meet Qianyun, who is studying Chinese opera, and can join in a performance of White Snake Lady or play traditional instruments; 
• Bao Chu Ta Middle School, where visitors meet Gangzheng at school, learn about the Great Wall, and count on the abacus.
• Pavilion, where visitors learn about Chinese writing, poetry, and yin and yang, the traditional worldview of balance and dualities in nature.
• Hangzhou Children’s Library, where visitors can check out the latest software and learn about China.
• Huang Tian Fan Village, where visitors meet Doudou, help her plant rice seedlings with her grandfather, and learn how two thirds of people in China live – on the land. 

 

Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China was created by Boston Children’s Museum as part of the Youth Museum Exhibit Collaborative (YMEC), a consortium of nine leading North American youth museums.

National Sponsors:
Local Sponsor:

Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China is the latest exhibition in the Museum’s Chase Gallery, our new home for visiting exhibitions, generously donated by Chase. The Chase Gallery hosts a changing schedule of new traveling exhibitions from across North America every three to four months.