Palace Museum opens new branch to show foreign treasures

The Beijing-based Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, on Saturday opened a new branch to exhibit foreign antiques on the resort island of Gulangyu in east China's Fujian Province.

The 219 foreign items on display, largely accessible to the public for the first time, feature china from Europe and Japan, snuff boxes imported from the West, fabric, furniture, and scientific instruments used in the imperial palace.

Palace Museum has collected a large number of foreign cultural relics, including paintings, lacquerware, ceramics, timepieces and scientific instruments, but those on exhibition account for less than 6 percent of the total amount, said museum curator Shan Jixiang, adding most of the items are stored in warehouses.

The foreign relics will be gradually moved to the new museum which covers over 10,000 square meters, said Shan.

"They are proof of the rich cultural exchanges between China and other countries over the centuries," he added. Endi