Gateway to China

27th August 2004, 1:00am
Glasgow Museums have made a very good attempt at creating a show to appeal to all the family based on Sir William Burrell’s collection of 1,700 Chinese objects. Even before getting to the exhibition, there is a pagoda-style Wendy house where under-fives can try on Chinese hats.

Entrance to One Million Days in China is through a Chinese gateway. You hear street sounds of Shanghai and see a picture of Burrell (almost life size) in front of one of the London shops that supplied him with antiquities. Nearby is the desk where the Glasgow shipping magnate sat to catalogue his purchases, which included the 500-year-old, 4ft earthenware figure of a Buddhist disciple which watches over the exhibition.

Find out how people used oracle bones to communicate with ancestors, learn about the Cultural Revolution and discover what the future holds using fortune sticks. A full education programme accompanies the show, which runs until February.

Tel 0141 565 4112