When Comic-Con Came to Town: Special Event at the SDCHM

As many of you may know, San Diego Comic-Con International, or Comic-Con, was held over this past weekend at the San Diego Convention Center in downtown from the evening of July 11^th through July 15^th. With over 100,000 visitors attending Comic-Con, we at the SDCHM decided to host a special event this weekend to welcome these visitors and bring awareness to the museum and the heritage of San Diego’s Chinatown. This special event included a free Chinese block print demonstration set up in front of the museum and visitors who paid a $2 admission to the museum were able to have their name written in beautiful Chinese calligraphy. This event was a great success and brought many new visitors to the museum.

Visitors dressed as characters from the cartoon
Thundercats

As droves of visitors headed to and from Comic-Con down 3rd Avenue, some in terrific costumes, many were attracted to our free Chinese block print demonstration in which they were able to make their own Chinese block prints and receive a fortune cookie. Our demonstration included a variety of block prints, including all of the Chinese zodiac characters and accompanying animals as well as various Chinese characters such as: beauty, flower, friend, wealth and good luck. As part of the demonstration, visitors learned about the origins of Chinese printing and many of the great Chinese innovations, such as printing, paper, silk, the compass, the wheelbarrow and gunpowder along with many others. The block print demonstration was a big hit with over 175 participants and a great way to draw visitors to the museum to learn about China’s history and its unique culture.  Approximately 50 visitors came to the museum over the weekend, and enjoyed our permanent collection which includes models of San Diego’s Chinatown, a Chinese bridal carriage dating from the late 1800s and Chinese Warlord Feng Yu-Hsiang’s wedding bed dating from the late Qing Dynasty, just to name a few. Additionally, visitors enjoyed the Chuang Garden as well as the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Extension where they viewed our current exhibit: The Art of Tea. As a special treat for visitors, our director’s wife, Mrs. Agnes Chuang, provided guests with a free calligraphy demonstration in which they were able to have their names written in Chinese. Visitors enjoyed learning what their Chinese name meant and leaving with a souvenir to remember their visit to the SDCHM.  

Agnes created beautiful calligraphy for museum visitors

This special event was hugely successful in bringing awareness to the museum and we look forward to many similar events in the future! Special thanks to all who visited, the staff members for putting this event together and to our great volunteers, Joy and Kathy, who helped so much in making this event a success.