Palace Museum opens new branch in southeast China

The Palace Museum, a renowned world cultural heritage with a history extending 600 years, has opened a new branch on a resort island in Xiamen in southeast China, showcasing 219 foreign antiques dating back to China's Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

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. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

Located on Gulangyu Island of Xiamen city in Fujian province, the new museum covers 11,000 square meters of land.

An aerial view of the new branch of the Palace Museum on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province. [File Photo: 163.com]

The two-story building features items from imperial collections mostly gifted by foreign missions from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, the United States, etc.

A pair of vases exhibited at the new branch of the Palace Museum on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province, May 12, 2017. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The exhibits include china, pottery, lacquerware and enamel vessels, painting and calligraphy works, western-style textiles and furniture, statues, clocks, musical and technical instruments, and even include ointments for treating headaches.

An interior view of the new branch of the Palace Museum on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province. [File Photo: 163.com]

From the 1850s to 1950s, Gulangyu Island served as a port of entry to the outside world for over a hundred years. The island's exotic atmosphere and their precious historical collections will enhance each other's beauty, said Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum.

According to Shan, the Palace Museum is planning to set up new branches to display antiques, due to concerns over transportation damage. It will establish another branch at a later date in Hongkong, which will reportedly take up a floor space of 30,000 square meters.