Bringing recent history to life with creative exhibits

"The gallery features important intellectuals from different periods to help people today get a big picture of the trends of thought during China's modernization," he says.

The production of each figure takes about four to six months.

As not many images and documents were available for some figures, it was time consuming but necessary to communicate with their offspring to get details, says Chen.

For instance, when the museum staff visited Shu, she suggested that they copy her thick and short eyebrows and snub nose, which resemble her father's.

At the preview, Pan Gongkai, son of master painter Pan Tianshou (1897-1971) and former head of Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts, found his father's figure with a pair of leather shoes and said that in real life his father mostly wore cloth shoes made in the traditional style.

Meanwhile, Chen says the display also tells the stories of the personalities featured.

For instance, the display of renowned essayist Zhu Ziqing (1898-1948) includes his wax figure placed in a scene based on his widely-read essay Beiying (retreating figure).

Another display shows two wax figures, Hua Tian-you (1901-86) and Liu Kaiqu (1904-93), creating reliefs on the Monument to the People's Heroes at Tian'anmen Square in 1952-53. Viewers from outside the gallery can see the monument through a wide window.

The statues of Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and Xu Beihong (1895-1953), two masters of modern Chinese art who were close friends, stand side by side at the gate of a siheyuan-style courtyard in old Beijing. It re-creates a scene from September 1928 when Qi bids goodbye to Xu in Beijing.

Xu, by then already a prominent painter, had just accepted a position to head the fine arts college of Bei-ping University. He was a good friend with Qi, a self-taught painter who was rejected by the art circles because of his humble background and low-profile personality.

Xu appreciated Qi's talent, and visited Qi's home three times, inviting him to teach at the college. Their friendship and mutual admiration is a much repeated story.

Chen says that NMC will enrich the display by adding items from its collections that are related to the figures featured, including their manuscripts and belongings.