Major exhibition China: Journey to the East opening at Manchester Museum

3,000 years of Chinese history and culture are explored in this major touring exhibition China: Journey to the East from the British Museum.

Exploring themes of play, technology, belief and festivals, food and drink, and language and writing, it will open at The Manchester Museum on 25 September 2010.

China has been a major influence on many parts of the world through trade and the movement of peoples. Chinese Diaspora communities form a vital part of the history of many other countries, including Britain. Manchester has its own thriving Chinese community and the city is home to the first true Imperial Chinese arch erected in Europe.

From the world's earliest porcelain to shadow puppets and wei qi (Chinese Chess). From picnics and coca cola to afterlife jam tarts and a pillow wishing everlasting peace, China: Journey to the East combines fantastic objects from the British Museum with stories from one of the world's fastest growing economies. Complementing the displays will be photos and mementoes of modern day Wuhan, Manchester’s sister city in China.

Commenting about the exhibition, Curator of Living Cultures Stephen Welsh said,

‘China: Journey to the East presented us with the perfect opportunity to explore links with our colleagues at Wuhan Municipal Museum. It’s easy to see why the cities are sisters as they are both right in the centre of their respective countries, have a long industrial tradition and an umbrella is absolutely essential when you’re out and about. We all hope that the cultural bonds between the two cities will grow and flourish over years to come.’

During the exhibition, the Chinese Moon Festival and Chinese New Year will be celebrated with special events marking their importance in the Chinese calendar. A programme of talks organised in partnership with the Confucius Institute also compliment the exhibition. This will be the last opportunity to see this unique touring exhibition before it returns to the British Museum in June 2011.

China: Journey to the East is a British Museum Tour supported by BP, a CHINA NOW legacy project. It will be on display at The Manchester Museum from 25 September 2010 to 26 June 2011. 

LINKED EVENTS:

Life in China

Tuesday 21 Sep 2010, 12.45-1.30pm

Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults and older children

Part of a series of talks by The Confucius Institute at The University of Manchester. At each talk you can learn two Chinese characters and one useful phrase or sentence. Part of our China: Journey to the East exhibition.
In this talk Lee Davies, from the Confucius Institute, will share his experiences of China, having taught English to young people at Nanjing No. 9 Middle School in China for a year after graduating with a linguistics degree from the University of Durham in 2005. Lee Davies will talk about his first impressions of Nanjing, as a major international city with Starbucks and KFC, yet as a place where he had a lot to get used to, from squat toilets to the constant sound of honking horns. The biggest thing he had to get used to though was the Chinese language. Lee will briefly cover the main issues for foreigners learning Chinese: new words, grammar, pronunciation, tones, different Romanisations of Chinese and Hanzi and the intrinsic link between Chinese language and Chinese culture.
 

Big Saturday: Chinese Moon Festival

Saturday 25 September 2010, 11am-4pm

Most activities are free and drop-in. Some activities may need to be booked on the day and may cost up to £1.50. All ages 

Celebrate Chinese Moon Festival with hands-on activities, experts and object handling at the Museum and The Whitworth Art Gallery. Part of our China: Journey to the East exhibition.

 

Chinese tea ceremony

Wednesday 6 October 2010, 2.30-4pm

Drop-in, free, adults and older children

Take part in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. The art of serving and drinking tea plays a major role in Chinese culture. The Chinese tea ceremony is quite different from English or Japanese tea ceremony. Come and experience Chinese tea ceremony! Also you could taste different Chinese tea. There are three parts to the event: tea introduction, tea ceremony and tea taste. Part of our China: Journey to the East exhibition.

 

Chinese history

Tuesday 19 October 2010, 12.45-1.30pm

Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults and older children

Part of our series of talks by The Confucius Institute. At each talk you can learn
two Chinese characters and one useful phrase or sentence. Part of our China: Journey to the East exhibition.

 

October half term: Chinese technology

Monday 25-Friday 29 October 2010, 11am-4pm

Drop-in, free, all ages

Craft activities based on a Chinese technology theme, as on display in our China: Journey to the East exhibition - see some silk moths and have a go at paper weaving and printing.

Chinese archery and technology

Wednesday 27 October, 1-3pm
Drop-in, free, all ages

The Manchester Museum has an extensive collection of archery. Find out about the role of archery in China with an opportunity to get up close to some museum objects.

Archaeology of China Day School

Saturday 13 November 2010

Chinese movies

Tuesday 16 November 2010, 12.45-1.30pm

Ideas Café: China and globalisation

Monday 6 December 2010, 6-8pm

Chinese economy

Tuesday 14 December 2010, 12.45-1.30pm

Chinese paper craft

Monday 20-Thursday 23 December & Monday 27-Friday 31 December 2010, 11am-4pm

February half term: Year of the Rabbit

Monday 21-Friday 25 February 2011, 11am-4pm

Big Saturday: Journey to the West

Saturday 11 June 2011, 11am-4pm

Further details of the above events are to follow in listings information.

More talks will be scheduled for 2011.
 

Notes for editors

The British Museum

CHINA: JOURNEY TO THE EAST is supported by BP, a CHINA NOW legacy project. Further support is provided through the DCMS/DCFS National/Regional Education Partnerships Programme 2008-9.

The tour is organised through the British Museum’s Partnership UK scheme.

This is the second in a series of British Museum travelling exhibitions, working with UK partners to offer students, teachers and families around the country the chance to encounter real objects from the major civilisations in world history. (Visit www.greeks.hampshire.org.uk to find out about Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes, the first touring exhibition in this series.)

Schools’ programme

A free CHINA: JOURNEY TO THE EAST exhibition teacher’s pack is available for use with your visit. Download this special resource at www.thebritishmuseum/journeyeast 

British Museum websites written for Key Stage 2 & 3 teachers which contain background information and activity ideas can be found at www.ancientchina.co.uk and www.earlyimperialchina.co.uk

BP is the British Museum’s most longstanding corporate sponsor, supporting the Museum on an annual basis since 1998. BP has recently supported the Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings exhibition and will be supporting Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead which opens at the British Museum on November 4^th 2010.

Confucius Institute

The Confucius Institute at the University of Manchester belongs to a network of over 300 Confucius Institutes across the world, with an aim to promote Chinese language and culture and the understanding of China.  The Institute was established in 2006 and has worked extensively with local schools and cultural organisations. Our activities range from language taster, cultural workshop, language classes, teacher training to public talk, screening of Chinese films, literary events, exhibitions, etc. The Institute takes pride in serving the local community by bringing contemporary China closer to Manchester and the North West

The Manchester Museum

As a university museum, The Manchester Museum uses its international collection of human and natural history for enjoyment and inspiration. Working with people from all backgrounds, the Museum provokes debate and reflection about the past, present and future of the earth and its inhabitants.

The Manchester Museum is home to one of the largest and most important collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts in the United Kingdom. The Vivarium houses a wide variety of live animals including frogs, toads, snakes and other reptiles and amphibians. One of the star attractions in the Museum is the T.rex, displayed in the pre-historic gallery alongside rare examples of fossils dating back to the Ice Age.

The Manchester Museum was Highly Commended in the Large Visitor Attraction category of the Manchester Tourism Awards 2008

The Manchester Museum,

The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL.

T: (0)161 275 2634  F: (0)161 275 2676 www.manchester.ac.uk/museum
Open: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday, Monday and Bank Holidays 11am – 4pm with FREE ENTRY

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