Tibetan scholar Dekyid has worked for many years in the Display Room for Tibetan Cultural Legacies on the third floor of the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC) in northern Beijing.

Although she likes her work she said she often wished the exhibition hall was bigger - it measures less than 50 sq m - so that more exhibits could be put on show for visitors.

Now her dream is set to come true, as a new China Tibetan Culture Museum is being built to accommodate the region's cultural arts and treasures. Construction work began last April and the museum is scheduled to open later this year.

The new museum, which is affiliated to the research center, "will become the most inclusive and authoritative institute in the Chinese capital for disseminating Tibetan culture", CTRC chief director Lhakpa Phuntsogs said.

Zhang Chunyan, head of the preparatory office for the museum, said: "We hope the museum will attract scholars from at home and abroad, as well as local people, students and anyone who has an interest in Tibetan history, arts and culture."

As well as a host of static exhibits, there will be slide shows, videos, 3-D copies of cave paintings and models representing the Tibetan way of life, she said.

The museum will also have a Tibetan café, a store selling books, art replicas and other souvenirs, a performing arts center, and rooms for lectures, conferences and screenings of Tibetan-themed films.

There will also be hands-on studios to give visitors a real taste of Tibetan culture such as how Buddhist sutras are printed in the traditional way, she said.

"During major Tibetan festivals, the center will also host parties for visitors, especially high school and university students, who might even get an unexpected gift", Zhang said without elaborating.

"If the construction work goes to plan, the museum will open in early August", she said.

Built at a cost of about 160 million yuan - provided by the central government - the museum will occupy a lot off the northern 4th Ring Road, a few miles east of the Bird's Nest - the main stadium for the Beijing Olympics.

Once completed, the museum will cover about 20,000 sq m, Zhang said.

"With the help of veteran designers and engineers from institutions such as the Hua'nan Architectural Design Institute of China and folk artists from Tibet, the museum will be built and decorated in a classical Tibetan style," she said.

"But it will also be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and be run by a team of experienced staff."

About 20 experts in cultural heritage and ethnic culture are currently helping with the appraisal, selection, collection, maintenance and arrangement of the exhibits, Zhang said.

The research center has been collecting art pieces and documents for the museum for several years.

So far, it has accumulated about 1,000 items including books, documents, photographs, Tibetan Buddhist statues, musical instruments, clothes, pottery, opera masks, Tangka paintings and even a collection of ancient medical equipment.

The oldest of the more than 60 Tangka paintings date back to the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Zhang said.

However, "to enrich our collection, donations from both domestic and overseas individuals and organizations are warmly welcomed", she said.

Already, Wang Jianzhi from Hong Kong and Li Yizhi from the mainland have agreed to donate Tibetan artworks and ancient documents from their collections, Zhang said.

The most eye-catching of Wang's donations are a collection of ancient Tibetan coins and inscribed wooden slips featuring Tibetan characters from the Tubo Kingdom period (about AD 629-840).

Among the items from Li's collection is a centuries-old Buddhist sutra text inscribed on a piece of birch bark, Zhang said.

Discussions are ongoing with several other collectors, she said.

"We would also be very happy for collectors from home and abroad to exhibit their collections here at the museum so visitors can share their passion for splendid Tibetan culture," Zhang said.

Last year, the museum's preparation office commissioned several videos to be shot in Tongren County of the Huangnan Prefecture in Qinghai Province about how veteran Tangka painters Niangben and Renqingjia created their masterpieces.

Lu Jun, a researcher who supervised the shooting of the video, said a single 2 m by 2 m Tangka painting made with natural pigments can take more than two months, said.

"The new museum will add to the cityscape of the Chinese capital and provide museum-goers with the chance to see some truly unforgettable exhibits," Zhang said.

(China Daily April 16, 2008)