Chair exhibitions show culture sitting pretty

Unlike some exhibitions that may require endless footslogging, this curated collection of Chinese wooden furniture — in actual fact just a few dozen pieces — invited viewers to linger.

Visitors could not only admire the craftsmanship but also get hands-on experience by assembling sunmao (mortise-and-tenon) joints and encounter the distinct aromas of various types of wood.

For over three months, the exhibition Elegance of Woodcraft: Timeless Beauty, which concluded on Sunday, had drawn more than 1 million visitors to the Summer Palace Museum and its Deheyuan, or Garden of Virtue and Harmony, in Beijing.