Have a case of cabin fever? We have the perfect panda-dote! We know where your family can go to visit another country and culture by exploring six immersive environments, including a school, a traditional neighborhood market, and more.

 

Photo by Freepik

The Magic House, at St. Louis Children’s Museum, has created Children’s China, an incredible traveling exhibit designed to tour nationally and increase understanding of Chinese culture. The exhibit opened on January 21 and will remain open until September 4. You can visit the exhibit during regular museum hours. Children’s China is included with regular Museum admission.

You may already know a few things about China and have probably eaten Chinese food – or at least an Americanized version of it. But there are lots of interesting things to learn about this centuries-old country once ruled by emperors.

China is changing rapidly as modern technology and advances sometimes clash with ancient rituals, beliefs, and values. You and your kids can learn what life is like for children in China when you explore six immersive environments. You’ll visit a school, a neighborhood market, and four other places to get a taste of life in this East Asian country – one with more than 1.4 billion people. Most of these people live in cities and towns. In comparison, the United States has 336 million people. China has 23 provinces including the island of Taiwan.

On your visit to Children’s China, kids can take on the role of a researcher at the panda reserve to better understand how the people of China are caring for this endangered species, one of the country’s 2 national symbols, along with the dragon.

And speaking of dragons, you’ll get to take part in a daily dragon parade led by a person wearing a traditional, colorful dragon headdress.

Do you know about Chinese characters? No, not animated ones, characters are Chinese “letters,” and you can help celebrate the annual holiday National Teachers’ Day while learning to write “Thank you, teacher” in Chinese characters.

Here are a few more facts about China to know before you visit the Children’s China exhibit. The country’s official name is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Its capital is Beijing, which has 21 million people. China is a Republic, communist state, with Mandarin or Standard Chinese as its official language. Cantonese (Yue) and Shanghainese (Wu) are among the other most spoken languages there.

China doesn’t have one main religion, instead some religions the Chinese practice are Buddhist (18%), Christian (5%), Muslim (1.8%), Taoist, Hindu, and Folk Religions (22%). China’s national colors are red and yellow, and its national flag is red with five golden stars.

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