School students and adult visitors learn about making prints and carving stamp seals and learn about the appreciation of and technological methods being used in the conservation of the age-old buildings at the Palace Museum, May 18, 2019. [Photo by Jiang Dong/chinadaily.com.cn]

In celebration of this year's International Museum Day, the Palace Museum in Beijing turned itself into a dynamic stage on Saturday and offered a variety of activities to echo this year's theme, "Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition".

Students and adult visitors were invited to the museum to learn about making prints and carving stamp seals and to learn about the appreciation of and technological methods being used in the conservation of the age-old buildings at the Palace Museum.

The Chinese Musicians Association's choir gave an outdoor performance. An exhibition opened showing dozens of lithographs by artists from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Xudong, director of the Palace Museum, says it's a duty for museums to provide a platform for scholars to exchange their academic findings, for artists from different cultural backgrounds to show their work and boost mutual respect, and for children to pass traditions into the future.

The latest figures from the National Cultural Heritage Administration show China had 5,354 museums by the end of 2018, and museums across the country held some 26,000 exhibitions in 2018 and received 1.126 billion people, an increase of 30 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

The International Council of Museums organized the annual International Museum Day in 1977 to address the changing roles of museums.

Museums across the world are reinventing their roles to become more interactive, audience focused and active in delivering creativity and knowledge to their communities.

Wang Kaihao contributed to this story.