Nationwide activities to mark the 2019 National Science Day launched

Activities to mark the 2019 National Science Day were launched nationwide on September 14, 2019.

As this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the 2019 National Science Day has set its theme as "Salute to PRC, Smart New Life."

Taking place before the National Day that falls on October 1, the activities will last until September 20 with a view to improving public science literacy and serving national development needs. Around 15,000 units will carry out 24,000 science communication activities across China during the period, which will be within the access of a record high number of 320 million people.

In Beijing, the main city for the initiative, activities will take place at the China Science and Technology Museum and the Beijing Science Center.

At the China Science and Technology Museum, six sections have been set up, respectively dedicated to: an exhibition on PRC's science and technology achievements since its founding in 1949; broadcast of the science communication activities and the technology volunteer services taking place across China as well as an exhibition on the building of smart science and technology museums, the technology volunteer service information platform and smart science and technology associations; science communication activities organized by social forces; 5G technologies; an exhibition promoting the spirit of Chinese scientists; an exhibition on the major youth science activities that have been organized over the past seven decades, together with other youth-centered science communication activities.

Strong mobilization of social resources is a major highlight of this year's activities in Beijing. For example, over 120 organizations, including leading enterprises, prestigious universities, mainstream media organizations and top academic societies, pitched in with their science communication resources to support the exhibition on PRC's science and technology achievements since 1949. Highly entertaining and interactive, the activities enable visitors to come very close to science and prove to be very attractive. They are being warmly participated by public visitors.

Nationwide, coordinated campaigns will be launched to communicate science at science museums, communities and campuses as well as in rural areas; enterprises, educational bases, societies, research institutes, universities, health services and meteorological services will be mobilized to do their part. And these offline activities will be complemented by online science communication activities.

Following are some of the activities that will take place around China in observation of the 2019 National Science Day:

-Tianjin will hold science communication activities all around the municipality.

-Guangdong will hold science communication activities centering on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and will organize a science carnival.

- In Guangxi, a province that neighbors ASEAN countries, there will be a series of high-level China-ASEAN academic forums. The China Science and Technology Museum will organize a science communication exhibition at the China-ASEAN Expo under its "China Science and Technology Museum on the Move" program. Besides, an ASEAN Youth Makers Camp will be launched.

- In Heilongjiang, the province will mark the 2019 National Science Day and its Science Communication Month at the same time.

- In Fujian, the province will hold the 12th Cross-Straits Science Communication Forum and mark the 2019 National Science Day concurrently.

-In Zhejiang, a creative fair called "A Beam of Light into the Future" will be set up.

- The Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine will organize science communication activities that focus on peripheral vascular diseases.

-The China Society of Fisheries will go to the Ningbo Ocean World, a science communication base, to communicate science.

-The China Instrument and Control Society will communicate science at food nutrition and safety-focused science communication bases.

Since 2004, CAST has successfully organized over 80,000 major activities to mark the National Science Day, which received more than 1.5 billion visitors.