Chen Xingcan, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the director of Yinxu Museum in Anyang, Henan province. [Photo/Xinhua]

　　Museums, as an important channel for cultural education, meet the public's increasing spiritual needs, with “museum fever“ recently being observed, said archaeologist Chen Xingcan on Monday.

　　Chen is a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the director of Yinxu Museum in Anyang, Henan province, which is known for its rich collection of 3,300-year-old oracle bone scripts, China's earliest known writing system.

　　He said at an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions that an unprecedented 72 million people visited museums nationwide during the past Spring Festival holiday.

　　Since opening in February 2024, Yinxu Museum has received 1.8 million visits. In Henan's provincial capital Zhengzhou, reserving a ticket for the Henan Museum is challenging.

　　In southwestern China, Sanxingdui Museum of Guanghan, Sichuan province, recorded 6 million visits last year.

　　According to Chen, also a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the traces of human activities in China date back over a million years. More than 10,000 years ago, agriculture emerged. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, paddy farming thrived, while millet was first grown in the Yellow River Basin.