The Tribute to Leonardo da Vinci in Beijing runs through Sept 8. [Photo provided to China Daily]

This tribute to Leonardo da Vinci is anything but your garden-variety museum show. It brings him and his work to life in a spell-binding and entertaining way, but rest assured — it's neither mere eye candy nor an "eyes glaze over" academic exhibition. It hits the sweet spot at the intersection of entertainment and scholarship thanks to the supervision of Roberta Barsanti, director of the prestigious Museum Leonardiano in Leonardo's birthplace: the Tuscan town of Vinci, near Florence.

The tribute consists of five rooms. You enter through Leonardo's oil painting display area and can proceed to a manuscript display area, objects display area, a 5-D experience theater (featuring a wild ride that I personally don't recommend immediately after lunch), a VR area and three video halls. The largest hall, my favorite, had enormous displays of da Vinci art, drawings and inventions accompanied by spectacular Italian opera music.