Fun and practical apps that will help get you through a lockdown 'staycation'

Still locked down at home? Don't worry. You still have choices to access online services for fun and pleasure during the staycation situation.

Through various apps, you can take a virtual tour of national treasures being exhibited in the Forbidden City in Beijing, learn to cook a Chinese dish with step-by-step recipes and try an AI scanning tool to improve the efficiency of online learning and remote work.

We are fortunate to have access to all the best digital technology to calm ourselves in lockdown situations.

Some of the China-developed apps don't support English language but you can still indulge in virtual tours and browse images and videos. If you can read a little Chinese then you can naturally have more fun.

All apps are free for basic functions but require payment for extra functions and content. They support both Android and iOS.

Let us know if you are interested in more app recommendations in other categories, like video, fitness and communications.

The Palace Museum (故宫展览)

Credit: Zhu Shenshen / SHINE

The app, authorized by the Palace Museum, allows people to virtually access the ongoing exhibition "The Making of Zhongguo (China): Origins, Developments and Achievements of Chinese Civilization."

The exhibition, sponsored by the Palace Museum and 29 other museums nationwide, presents over 130 pieces or sets of precious cultural relics from the Neolithic age all the way through the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).

They are made of stone, pottery, jade, bronze, gold and silver. The iconic treasures include He Zun (wine vessel) from Baoji Museum of Shaanxi Province, a Changxin Palace lantern from Hebei Museum and a human head-shaped painted pottery vase from Gansu Museum.

It's the biggest exhibition held in the Forbidden City this year, with many of the relics "must-see" national treasures from various museums in different provinces.

Credit: Zhu Shenshen / SHINE

It's even difficult for Beijing residents to visit the show onsite, said a Beijing-based friend, who took several days to secure an online reservation required by the Palace Museum.

Through the app, we can take a 360-degree virtual tour, just like "walking" in the exhibition hall. It also has a waterfall display of treasures, offering detailed information and images by clicking them.

CamScanner (扫描全能王)

Credit: Ti Gong

CamScanner, developed by Shanghai-based Intsig, can turn your smartphone into a portable scanner. It can recognize text automatically and help you to become more productive in learning, work and daily life. It supports output documents in PDF, JPG, Word and TXT formats.

It is a valuable asset for parents and students in online learning, helping to meet requirements such as homework uploads on the cloud during lockdown.

Credit: Ti Gong

Through technologies like OCR, CamScanner can automatically trim edges and sharpen scanned files, even in dark environments. It can also solve problems like shadows, blurred text and cluttered pictures caused by handheld shooting, ensuring effective online learning, remote work and business card scanning.

Supporting both Chinese and English languages, it has over 750 million users globally.

Xia Chu Fang (下厨房)

Credit: Zhu Shenshen / SHINE

Xia Chu Fang, meaning Go to Kitchen literally, is a Chinese cuisine app with user generated content, such as popular gourmet dishes cooked by over 20,000 fans using secret recipes.

It can meet various demands during lockdown days, whether you are foodies or just beginners who want to learn cooking. It's a recipe app and social media platform that features pictures and videos, mainly for Chinese dishes.

It only supports Chinese language but you can still try to search "pasta" or "steak," to find several results in English.

Currently, it has 2 million recipes and 300 million users, many of them experienced cooking experts, including my cousin who recommended the app.