Letters tell the tale of two nations

US first lady visits China

A Time magazine cover of the US ping-pong team's trip and a letter from Nixon to an American are on display in the exhibition.

US-China relations were also reflected in the World's Fairs China participated in, particularly the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. There is also mail signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was instrumental in the US participation in Shanghai Expo 2010.

Cheryl Ganz, chief curator of philately at the museum, says the show gives important lessons in history and geography.

"I think a lot of Americans don't know a lot about China's history. But the better we understand each other, the better we can lead the future," Ganz says. "Hopefully this will help deepen the understanding between our two countries and how we have had a long history together."

The exhibition, which will last until January 2015, will be the last for Ganz, who has been the chief curator at the museum for nearly a decade.

She says she received a lot of help from specialists both in China and the US to prepare the show, and read widely about China.

Ganz called Ezra Vogel, the noted Sinologist and author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, to ask for the Chinese version of a phrase she found interesting in his book. It quotes Deng as saying: "Our two countries were neighbors on opposite sides of an ocean."