The Palace Museum, the world-famous museum based in the Forbidden City in Beijing, is opening a branch in the coastal city of Xiamen, Fujian province, in May to house its collection of foreign artifacts.

A first batch of 219 exhibits arrived at their new home on Xiamen’s Gulangyu Island on April 10.

Experts examine a vase, which will be exhibited at the Palace Museum’s new branch in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

Selected from the Palace Museum’s prodigious imperial collections from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), the artifacts originated from a dozen different countries and regions, including the US, Japan, Korea, and Europe, and cover a wide range of areas, from lacquer ware and ceramics, to paintings and books, to sculptures, furniture and scientific instruments.

A clock made of wood and lacquer in the shape of a birdcage, one of the new exhibits at the Palace Museum’s Xiamen branch. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

Representing a high level of artistic achievement and serving as a manifestation of cultural exchange between east and west, these relics were previously hidden in the storage of the Palace Museum for many years.

A vase of blue field and floral patterns, soon to be displayed at the museum on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/xmnn.cn]