Experience a Toy Story at Beijing Cartoon Art Museum

Kungfu Panda, Cars, The Adventures of Tintin, these are just a few titles of foreign cartoons that have occupied top spots in the film charts of late. What about Chinese cartoons though? Does China produce good cartoons? And what about comics?

You can learn the answer to these questions and much more at the newly opened Beijing Cartoon Art Museum, in Chaoyang district, which takes you on a historical tour of Chinese, Japanese and Western animation.

According to Li Ang, the man who is in charge of the current exhibition in the museum, Cartoon Art Museum is quite a hit amongst kids. "This exhibition attracts many children here," Li comments. It isn't hard to see why.

Entering the two-story building, which is pretty hard to miss given the garish archway out front, your tour begins along the "China Cartoon Corridor." This consists of more than 40 bright glass bricks lining the floor, each containing a projected image of a famous Chinese cartoon.

On display are the glory days of Chinese cartoon - the 1960s - which featured productions like Havoc in Heaven, a Shanghai Animation Film Studio production containing Peking Opera elements, and Little Tadpole Looking For Mom, produced by the same studio that publicized science knowledge to children and featured Chinese ink and wash painting.

Then it presents more recent hits. Of particular note is hot cartoon series Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, which is nowadays considered to have re-injected life into the Chinese cartoon. Posters across the walls inform visitors about what China's first cartoon was, who the first cartoon producers were in China and what China's first puppet cartoon was.

Pass along the corridor and it leads you to a big hall in which over 600 Barbie dolls are displayed. Amongst the dolls, all of whom have travelled from America, there is the first ever Barbie doll - Ponytail No.1. The Barbie was made in 1959 and was recently sold at the hefty price of $20,000 to the latest collections.

All dolls are displayed in glass cases based on different themes: clothes, nationalities, occupations and seasons. People can find superstars like Elvis Presley; occupational Barbie dolls including astronaut Barbie; and a Chinese princess Barbie. With the latter, there is a tag under the doll reading "Look carefully and try to pick faults on this doll." Asking about this curious tag, Li told us the following: "Most of the visitors think this Barbie doll is weird but can't say exactly why, so we pose the question to them." Fortunately for us, Li was forthcoming with the answer to this question. "If you know some history of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), you will find out that the hat the doll wears was actually for a eunuch and she also wears a dragon robe, which belonged to an emperor only," Li said.

The basement pays homage to foreign cartoons. For example, there are over 100 French comics on display. Also on this floor are two studios showing how a stop-motion animation is made. "Stop-motion animation has a complex production process," Li went on. "We display two scenes in two studios, covering different subjects in the scene and making animation on a computer from start to finish to show visitors."

Cartoon and comic fans can also purchase a decent selection of souvenirs from the museum, including toys, postcards and sweets in the shape of certain cartoon heroes.

The museum displays change, although they are always related to the cartoon theme.