This vivid bun forest stands at the center of Guo Nian (Crossing the Year, or Celebrating the Chinese New Year), an ongoing exhibition at the museum that opened on Jan 20 and will run through March 20, bringing festive cheer as the Year of the Horse has arrived.

On Dec 4, 2024, the traditional Chinese celebrations and practices associated with Spring Festival were added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Two weeks later, the museum opened the inaugural Guo Nian exhibition celebrating the Year of the Snake.

The current show, though shifting to focus on the horse as the zodiac animal that followed, continues to provide a vivid narration of the diverse folk cultures and underlying philosophical understanding of the relationships between humans and nature.

Wang Chenyang, Party secretary of the museum, says the exhibition's duration reflects both the importance and cultural richness of Spring Festival: "It began on Jan 20, which corresponded with the second day of layue, the 12th and final month of the Chinese calendar. During this period, people are busy preparing for the festival — making larou (cured pork meat, from which layue, literally, 'cured meat month', takes its name), conducting clan worship and thoroughly cleaning their homes."