Beijing exhibition is elementary, Watson

For more than a century, Sherlock Holmes, the pipe-smoking genius detective who, from his flat at 221B Baker Street, London, solves impossible cases with astonishing mental acuity, has been engraved in the hearts of people across the world, along with the time he lived — a prosperous 19th-century Britain with misty nights perfect for intrigue and mystery.

Ever since British writer Arthur Conan Doyle created the character in 1887, he has become a major pop culture symbol, exerting a great influence on readers and later fictional renditions of detectives.

Holmes has been familiar to Chinese readers since Doyle's books were introduced to China in the late 19th century. Over the years, numerous versions of his classics have been published in the country.

Authorized by The Conan Doyle Estate, an exhibition on Sherlock Holmes kicked off at the National Museum of Classic Books in Beijing on April 28, offering visitors a chance to immerse themselves in Holmes' world.

Organized by the National Library of China, the Art Exhibitions China, and United Creation, a Beijing-based company specializing in designing exhibitions, it not only chronicles the life experiences of Doyle and the publication of his iconic books, but also reconstructs some of the crime scenes described in the books, and provides interactive facilities which enable people to learn how to crack cases themselves.

In 1887, the first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, by Doyle, a doctor, was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual. The series gained popularity after he started to publish more stories in The Strand magazine in 1891, enabling him to give priority to writing. Altogether he wrote 60 stories about Holmes, with the last penned in 1927.

The books follow the detective work of Holmes, a private investigator who is often invited to help the police crack cases that stump them. Written from the perspective of his friend Dr John Watson, readers see what Watson sees: a brilliant and witty, but eccentric and unsociable recluse who often solves cases in unpredictable ways.

"Although we often see detectives as the heroes of books, TV series or films today, before the birth of Holmes, detectives were rarely known. Doyle made history by making detective novels popular with the public," says a tour guide for the exhibition.

According to Gu Heng, director of the National Library of China's exhibition department, the library has in its collections many versions of the Holmes books. These include early English, Chinese from different eras, as well as Japanese and French versions, a number of which can be seen at the exhibition.

The exhibition features a compilation of Shiwu Bao, a newspaper published in Shanghai from 1896-98, in which translator Zhang Kunde introduced four Holmes stories. It marks the cerebral crime-fighter's debut in China. Another important exhibit is a Chinese version of a Holmes book translated by Lin Shu and published in 1914.

As with many genre-defining texts, the Holmes stories inspired a large number of related works, and some of them are on display as well. For example, there are books analyzing the personalities of the main characters in the series and descriptions of the locations Holmes visited in Britain and the techniques he applied to crack cases.

"After more than a century, the image of Holmes has not faded, but has become increasingly vivid in people's mind through films, TV series and music productions. Sometimes people can even forget he is only a character from books. That is the charm of classics," says Gu.

Another part of the exhibition features scenes interweaving Holmes stories and the real material culture of 19th-century Britain.

For example, there are two showcases describing Holmes and Watson respectively. Holmes' showcase exhibits his clothing, as well as the things he used in daily life, like a violin he often played, a magnifying glass and a small notebook he often carried, as well as his canes. Watson's showcase shows many of the artifacts that a 19th-century doctor would have used. The exhibits use real period-specific items collected by United Creation.

"We want to give visitors a glimpse of people's lives in 19th-century Britain. It was a relatively rich time, during which people had the leisure to read novels. And many everyday objects of the time are exquisite with sophisticated craftsmanship, which offer a feast for people's eyes," says Du Wei, one of the curators of the exhibition.

The exhibition also re-creates Holmes and Watson's flat on Baker Street, showing the living room in which they received visitors and Holmes' favorite desk on which he conducted experiments. It is nearly identical to a similar scene exhibited at the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, according to Du.

The exhibition unpacks 12 famous Holmes cases, like the ones in A Study in Scarlet, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle and The Final Problem. After that, there are interactive facilities which enable people to try their hand at Holmes' detective techniques, like breaking Morse code and reading the information contained in blood splashes and footprints.

"We want people to entertain themselves while experiencing the exhibits. They can learn detective skills at the beginning, then attempt to analyze and crack a case by themselves in the last exhibition area," says Du.

"We want especially young people to get to know the charm of Holmes' detective work, his wisdom and courage, and how to solve problems with the help of such qualities. We believe inspirational education can cultivate young people's ability to think and solve problems," says Wu Yicong, chairman of United Creation.

The exhibition runs until Nov 2, and will then tour other cities across the country.