A buyer checking out his blind box from the Henan Museum. Photo: Sina Weibo

Archaeological blind boxes rolled out by several provincial museums in China are trending on a major online shopping platform, with buyers saying it allowed them to "experience the joys of digging cultural relics as an archaeologist."

Henan Museum, the provincial museum of Central China's Henan Province, integrated the blind box concept with cultural relics, and hid "miniature cultural relics" such as bronze and china in the soil.

Using a Luoyang shovel, and a brush to sweep away the dirt, by digging an archaeological blind box, you can harvest a piece of bronzeware from the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC) or a china bottle from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Henan Museum's online store on Taobao explained.

The idea has proved wildly popular with many young people. Screenshots show that most of the blind boxes are sold out as soon as they are restocked every day. 

Buyers who were lucky enough to place an order shared their experience of digging the blind box online. 

"Wearing gloves, I feel like an archaeologist!" said a buyer. 

"You don't know how difficult archaeology is until you've done it yourself," a buyer said, expressing her admiration for archaeologists and recommending that everyone try it.

Global Times