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    TWENTY museums across the city will host 57 activities this summer as part of an annual museum event, the city’s cultural authority announced Monday.

    This year’s “Walk into a Museum” event begins July 30 and will focus on history and culture, helping visitors learn more about China and Shenzhen in ancient and modern times.

    All activities will be free to visitors.

    Shenzhen is home to 41 museums, and 20 of them will participate in the citywide public events this year, 10 more than in last year’s event.

    Shenzhen Museum, both the new and old locations, will hold 13 exhibitions during the event, including a wild animal exhibition, an ancient pottery exhibition, a Buddha statue exhibition and an ancient musical instrument exhibition. It will also hold several exhibitions to introduce local history, culture and traditions, with displays about ancient Shenzhen, modern Shenzhen, traditional customs and the city’s reform and opening up.

    Zhongying Street Historical Museum will hold two exhibitions: on intangible cultural heritage protection in Yantian District, and on the 100-year history and development of Zhongying Street, which straddles the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border.

    Merchants Historical Museum also focuses on the modern development of Shenzhen. In addition to architecture and harbor exhibitions in the venue, there will also be an exhibition portraying the development of China Merchants Group since 1872.

    Other historical exhibitions can be found at Dongjiang Guerrilla Memorial Hall in Pingshan New Area, Nantou Ancient Town Museum in Nanshan District, Hakka Customs Museum in Longgang District, Oyster Cultural Museum in Bao’an District, Dapeng Ancient Town Museum in Dapeng New Area and Migrant Workers Museum in Bao’an District.

    For art lovers, Shenzhen Art Museum in Luohu District is hosting two painting exhibitions, featuring water-color paintings by artists from Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macao and other work by Shenzhen artists.

    Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Futian District is offering a painting exhibition by Guan Shanyue and two photography exhibitions featuring beautiful and magnificent landscapes of China.

    Several private museums are planning special cultural exhibitions during the event.

    Wangye Museum, a leading private museum for ancient relics in Longhua New Area, is displaying ancient pottery that dates back 3,000 years. It’s also hosting an oil painting exhibition by well-known painters Hu Xiangdong and Liu Yujun.

    Ancient Chinese paintings collected at Palace Museum in Taipei will be exhibited at Bisheng Printing Cultural Museum in Longgang District. The museum also will offer exhibitions featuring traditional Chinese paintings and printing history.

    Other private museums participating in the event include Piano Museum in Futian District, Yibao Building Porcelain Museum in Luohu District and Bai Shilong Cultural Master Museum in Bao’an District.

    “The selected museums and exhibitions are very representative, meeting visitors’ different demands in history, culture, ancient relics and artworks,” the spokesperson of the authority said.

    All of the museums are open from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and close Mondays.

    The event also will feature lectures, forums and trainings, along with painting, photography and writing contests for museum visitors.

    Detailed information about the event can be found online at: szbbs.sznews.com/thread-1984493-1-1.html.