"Digital visits" to museums and other cultural institutions have broken the boundaries of time and space, especially after the COVID-19 outbreak, and changed the way people enjoy museums.

"This change has brought new experiences to the audience and is helping transform the museum's operation and management model," Feng said. Yet he is sober-minded and pragmatic about the limits of technology. In fact, he said that people should never stop visiting museums in person nor should curators and museologists try to replace the physical museum with a digital one, because bricks-and-mortar edifices are the foundation of all digital derivatives.

"The museum is the essence; technology only helps maximize its cultural, academic and public effects," Feng said. The application of technologies can help breathe life into antiques and intangible cultural heritages. But it cannot replace the physical objects or real experience.