Diversified content

Meanwhile, the categories of cross-border exhibitions have become more diversified.

In addition to the nation's top collections, countless themed exhibitions have been staged to present cultural relics in various categories. Some showcased the achievements of the Palace Museum in restoring artifacts and Western science instruments it preserved, while others focused on the wedding ceremonies of emperors, as well as the life of China's last emperor Pu Yi. All these exhibitions attracted interest and curiosity among the public.

Some exhibitions also celebrated the centenary of China's 1911 Revolution, which marked the end of imperial rule, and others commemorated the nation's first spacewalk by Shenzhou VII astronauts in 2008.

The arrival of national treasures has been greeted passionately by communities in Hong Kong.

In 2007, the Palace Museum in Beijing loaned several paintings and works of calligraphy, including Along the River During the Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), which created immense interest in the city. Three years later, a digital version of the painting was also displayed in Hong Kong, attracting a record-breaking 930,000 visitors, more than one-tenth of the city's population.