Shanghai - As China's National Day holiday drew visitors from across the world, Abdullah from Kuwait arrived at the Shanghai Natural History Museum with his 3-year-old daughter, eager to discover one thing: dinosaurs. The family had traveled about 12 hours to China for the experience.
On October 2, 2026, visitors stream into the Shanghai Natural History Museum. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
"Kuwait also has museums, but not like here - dinosaurs, space and maritime history, all in one city," he said.
The Shanghai Natural History Museum on October 2, 2026. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
His experience reflects how museums in China are evolving from traditional exhibition spaces into places that combine learning, interaction and family experiences, attracting more visitors during holidays and beyond.
The Shanghai Natural History Museum on October 2, 2026. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
In Shanghai, the trend also includes bringing international productions into the city's cultural venues, adding another dimension to its development as a global cultural and consumption center.
One example is "Prehistoric Planet: Dinosaurs," an immersive giant-screen experience co-produced by Apple TV+, BBC Studios Natural History Unit and Lightroom. After running in London and Paris, the production made its Asian debut in Shanghai, where it is scheduled to run from June 27, 2026, to January 17, 2027.
An immersive viewing of Prehistoric Planet Dinosaurs in Shanghai on October 3, 2026. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
The exhibition takes visitors 66 million years back to the Cretaceous period through a 360-degree giant screen. Across six chapters, it presents more than 30 prehistoric species, including Tyrannosaurus rex, giant dinosaurs, marine reptiles and pterosaurs.
The project combines entertainment with scientific content, presenting subjects such as dinosaur evolution, fossil formation, and convergent evolution through immersive visual experiences.
Its international production team also links the Shanghai exhibition to the global media and entertainment industry. Filmmaker Jon Favreau executive-produced the original Prehistoric Planet documentary series, narrated by David Attenborough and scored by Hans Zimmer. Mike Gunton, creative director of the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-curated the immersive exhibition.
For Shanghai, the exhibition is an example of how internationally produced cultural content can be brought into local venues and integrated with the city’s expanding cultural consumption market.
Shanghai's museums are also developing new ways to extend visitors' time and spending beyond conventional exhibitions.
By the end of 2025, China had 7,188 registered museums, with more than 91% offering free admission. In Shanghai, the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai Natural History Museum and Shanghai Astronomy Museum received nearly 200,000 foreign visitors in the first seven months of 2026, accounting for close to 5% of their total visitors.
During this year's National Day holiday, the three venues extended opening hours on selected days, with the science museum and natural history museum remaining open until 8 p.m.
The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum on October 3, 2026. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, which opened in 2001, has received more than 100 million visitors. The museum has also experimented with commercial entertainment. Its giant-screen cinema has introduced commercial films and immersive screenings, allowing the same facility to serve different audiences and functions at different times.
The museum's "Lingjing Qidian" immersive XR center takes the concept further by combining extended-reality experiences, science education programs and themed cultural products.
The "Walking Planetarium" project digitally recreates key areas of the Shanghai Astronomy Museum and had received about 220,000 visitors by the end of 2025.
The Shanghai Astronomy Museum on October 4, 2026. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
Other museums are similarly incorporating technology and interactive activities. The Chengdu Natural History Museum introduced a dinosaur-themed role-playing educational program during the National Day holiday, while a museum-and-robotics education program has served more than 100,000 visitors.
The expansion of museum-based experiences is taking place alongside China's broader effort to increase cultural and tourism consumption.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan for Culture and Tourism Development, covering 2026-2030, emphasizes higher-quality visitor experiences. During the 2026 National Day period, a nationwide cultural and tourism consumption campaign featured more than 20,000 activities, with more than 310 million yuan (about 46.2 million U.S. dollars) in consumption vouchers and other subsidies, according to the materials.
Shanghai has also used the holiday period to expand cultural offerings. The city scheduled 621 productions and 2,262 performances during the holiday, while museums and art institutions organized exhibitions, markets, workshops and interactive activities.
These developments place museums within a wider cultural consumption ecosystem. Visitors can attend exhibitions, participate in science programs, experience XR technology, watch performances and purchase products linked to what they have seen.
For international visitors such as Abdullah, the museum remains a place to learn about science. But Shanghai's evolving museum economy is adding new layers to that experience, connecting public education with international cultural content, digital technology and the city's broader tourism and consumption market.
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