A brass plated clock exhibited at the new branch of the Palace Museum on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province, May 12 ,2017.
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 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.
An aerial view of the new branch of the Palace Museum on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen
The foreign relics will be gradually moved to the new museum which covers over 10,000 square meters, said Shan.
A delicately made mirror from the Great Britain in the 18th century
"They are proof of the rich cultural exchanges between China and other countries over the centuries," he added.
