A mother and son watch a short movie about the galaxy at the Beijing Planetarium. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

Two schoolchildren engage in an interactive exhibit at the Beijing Planetarium. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

Between shows, visitors can peruse exhibition halls. The planetarium's exhibits cover information about the technology of telescopes, the sun, the planets, solar orbits, and solar and lunar eclipses through close-up real life recordings, short movies, displays, pictures, and moving models.

The newest exhibition is a photo gallery of solar and lunar eclipses, revealing how the phenomena of outer space look to the human eye. The photos strike an artistic tone, combining both beauty and science.

Opened in 1957, the Beijing Planetarium occupies a two building spread near the Beijing Zoo and administers the Ancient Observatory, which is east of the Forbidden City. English captions in the Beijing Planetarium are limited, and programs are only in Chinese.

For aspiring young students who can't get to Beijing for the planetarium, the planetarium might come to them. The Beijing Planetarium operates a "moveable planetarium," van that travels the country and teaches students outside of Beijing about outer space.

Additionally, the planetarium occasionally holds public lectures and activities about major astronomical phenomena, and research is still conducted in-house. The planetariums exhibits continue to change and expand according to popular topics in society. "After all, interest is the best teacher in leading people to explore and research," Wan Haoyi said of the planetarium's mission to offer interesting and educational information in relevant ways.

With new information and ways to communicate that constantly influence lifestyles, no doubt the Beijing Planetarium will continue to look for new ways to create tomorrow's scientists.