The prizewinning designs of last year's Yuanliu Campaign competition include tea-bag holders featuring ancient court attire; drawing chalks mimicking Chinese traditional window panels; furniture inspired by Buddhism; lamps made with batik fabrics; and sticky tapes with humorous expressions.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The blue logo of the Yuanliu Campaign is his department's first effort to show that cultural heritage is visually appealing while embedded with secrets of a civilization. Designed by Jia, it resembles a pottery owl head belonging to the Neolithic Yangshao Culture.

The round object was excavated by the department's students in Hua county, in northwestern Shaanxi province, in the 1950s.

But researchers still aren't sure what it was used for.

Meanwhile, the campaign has brought together a team of teachers and students from various academic departments. They operate a WeChat account to post articles, introduce antique works of art and comment on ongoing exhibitions. The followers include students, journalists, designers and researchers.

Hang says the cross-disciplinary mindset is widely practiced at Peking University, because it is believed to broaden a graduate's career prospects.

The campaign's second design competition is to be launched in the second half of the year.