The Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing's Chaoyang district opens to the public on Thursday. Photo: VCG

Even though it was early in the morning on a workday, visitors had already begun lining up on Thursday for the opening of Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) - the Party's new "spiritual home."

Jiang Muyou, a 35-year-old hotel manager from Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, told the Global Times that he booked tickets as soon as he heard the museum in Beijing was going to open on Thursday.

"This year is the CPC's 100th anniversary. Building such a museum was needed and significant as it can give younger generations the opportunity to learn more about the development of their motherland," said Jiang, adding that the part of the museum he was looking forward to the most was the anti-pandemic section as one of his friends living in Wuhan once helped to coordinate food deliveries to residents during the city's lockdown and he has a lot of empathy for those who fought against the virus.

"I will take some photos and send them to him. I believe that if he comes to Beijing, he will definitely visit the museum," said Jiang.

After nearly 1,000 days, construction of the Museum of the CPC was officially completed in Beijing's Chaoyang district on May 5. 

"The CPC's 100 years of history has proven two things: The CPC has made our country stronger and more developed; the CPC has the ability to self-correct and its fundamental tenet of serving the people has never changed," Wang, an elderly man in his 70s, told the Global Times, adding that he was moved to tears by the immersive performance held at the museum about the Red Army's Long March.

According to a report from the Xinhua News Agency, the museum reveals the CPC's history in four main sections - revolution, construction, reform and opening-up and entering the new era - through more than 2,600 pictures and over 3,500 items of cultural value.

Yuan Xin, a 26-year-old woman who graduated from Wuhan University in 2020 and narrowly missed being locked down in the city, told the Global Times that she was very touched when she visited an exhibit on the country's anti-pandemic efforts, especially after seeing the silk banners handed by various medical support teams that had gone to the city from across China in the exhibition hall.

"I left Wuhan only three days before the city was locked down. I then volunteered in my hometown in [Central China's Henan Province] temperature-checking station," she said, adding that she felt that CPC history was a huge draw as she saw many individual visitors have come to visit the museum outside of tour groups.

Yang Haiyi, a 24-year-old student and a CPC member from Northeast China's Liaoning Provice, told the Global Times she came to Beijing to visit a friend, but after she learned that the museum was about to open, she did not hesitate to delay her departure by a day so that she could visit the museum.  

"No matter it is the Wenchuan earthquake or the COVID-19 pandemic, we Chinese people have conquered all. I see the unity of our nation and I am proud to be Chinese," said Yang.

Entry to the museum, which is open from 9 am to 5 pm every day except Mondays, is free of charge and tickets can be booked online.