Breakup museum tells of love's labors lost

While there are a lot of donated items that tell of depressing breakups, items like university entrance exam books and answer sheets tell more lighthearted stories of young, innocent love.

They are tokens from girls who went through high school with secret crushes on classmates, but never brought them up or had their affections rejected. The donations are the young girls' recollections of their fruitless puppy love.

The breakup museum also features plenty of breezy exhibits about those currently showered by love.

One woman sent in a streaky-pork-patterned pillow for display, saying it was a gift from the restaurant where she and her boyfriend had their first date.

"He knew I liked that food set with a pillow that was given for free, so he ordered it," she said. Both of us were so shy during the date."

The woman also said that thanks to Xu's helpful online advice, she was the one to make the first approach to her boyfriend.

Xu said daily visitor numbers have increased to 1,000 since Dec 22, when the museum opened. Visitors often got emotional, suddenly bursting into tears, and others would linger in the museum, chatting to staff until late in the night.

"This is not about money," Xu said. "By coming to my exhibition, I wish that brokenhearted people can feel relieved and be ready to move on. Those in sweet relationships can learn from the experiences of others and cherish their lovers, and people looking forward to a relationship can taste the joys and sorrows of those who have been through all those, and be open-minded for future love."

Xu is now making preparations to open similar museums in Tianjin, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Guangzhou in Guangdong province, and Xi'an in Shaanxi province.

Xie Jianing contributed to this story.