Summer space exhibits inspire China's next generation of dreamers

Wandering through a temporary exhibition on lunar exploration held at the China Science and Technology Museum, an 11-year-old boy surnamed Huang from North China's Hebei province was still thinking about the virtual journey he had just taken.

"The VR exhibit showcased a future moon base. It felt so real," Huang says. "I hope I can go there one day."

Jointly presented by the CSTM and the China National Space Administration, the exhibition features real spacecraft components, including a backup of the specially designed national flag once displayed on the moon's surface in 2020 by the Chang'e-5 flight, China's first lunar sample-return mission, a piece of the high-performance alloy dubbed "Chang'e steel", and a commercial rocket engine.

Visitors can also enjoy an immersive virtual reality experience that places them in the role of a researcher traveling to a lunar base in 2049.

"We heard about the exhibition and wanted to bring our son," says Huang's father, who is struck by how today's children can access space science resources that were unimaginable when he was young.

"When I was a child, I had heard of the Long March rockets. Later, Yang Liwei went into space, and I felt China's space program was advancing rapidly," he says. "Back then, we could only learn vaguely from the news that China had satellites and rockets capable of reaching space."

Yang became China's first astronaut to enter space in October 2003.

The family's visit reflects a broader transformation in summer science education. Achievements that previous generations could only follow from newspaper reports and television broadcasts are now becoming immersive, hands-on experiences for children.