The National Art Museum of China is receiving a growing number of visitors this summer, more than 4,000 on an average daily basis and 7,000 on weekends. It also feels a stronger-than-ever desire of patrons to see its immense collections.

"We regularly conduct surveys among visitors, and over the past two years, we've sensed people's growing desires to view our collections, especially the most representative and classic works," says NAMOC's director Fan Di'an.

The museum doesn't have space for permanent displays of collected works. It shows some in special exhibitions every year, but this represents only a small fraction of the 110,000 items in storage, a collection that keeps increasing.