Nanjing Museum gives lucky winners a peak into its vaults
Updated: 2014-05-29 18:22
By Wang Kaihao (chinadaily.com.cn)
|
|||||||||||
Passing through six heavily-guarded gates underground, 100 lucky visitors got the chance to have a close look at the most secret part of Nanjing Museum on May 17.
The itinerary included two warehouses holding paintings, calligraphy and metal articles, plus rooms used for cleaning, restoring and photographing cultural relics.
The visitors won the one-hour free tour online.
According to Tian Mingli, director of the collection management department at the museum, it is the first time the museum has opened this part of its collection to the public in its 81-year history.
Home to about 420,000 cultural relics, Nanjing Museum has one of the country's largest collections.
Though the museum's exhibitions rotate every one to two months, only 40,000 pieces can be on display at a time.
"This might have ignited the public's huge curiosity to see what the rest are like," Tian said.
Normally, only professional teams are allowed into the warehouse with the signature of the museum curator. Keys and codes unlocking each warehouse are preserved by two departments and will only work when used together. Tian said the level of security is even higher than banks.
For tourists, no cameras, cell phones or even pens are allowed into the maze-like warehouse.
Ma Minda, a power engineer, was one of the visitors.
"As a fan of cultural relics, I'm really excited to see them in the warehouse," he said.
"I would love to see more stored items be exhibited in the future, allowing people to know more about our history."
Zheng Jing, who is in charge of the social service department of the museum, said their website was flooded with applications.
"To ensure the safety of the relics, we cannot allow too many visitors in this first trial," Zheng said.
"Possibly, we will have similar events more often in the future and explore more ways to accept applications other than the website to give more chances to kids and older people," said curator Gong Liang. "However, it's still too early to have a detailed plan."
The event also marked International Museum Day, which falls on Sunday. As China's main venue of this year's celebration, Nanjing Museum also launched a series of special exhibitions through this weekend.
Related Stories
Creations of NE·TIGER presented at Nanjing Museum 2014-05-19 07:30
Nanjing hosts old articles exhibition 2014-05-12 15:23
Adorable cultural relics on display in Nanjing 2014-05-21 13:11
Old items from Republic of China displayed in Nanjing 2014-03-12 09:48
Today's Top News
MH370 passengers' relatives angry at search
European firms' 'best era' may be over in China
Russia troops 'leave' Ukraine border
Everest climber denies accusations
A small person's big identity question
Rebels down Ukrainian military helicopter
Russia bans 'historically false' WWII movie
Egypt extends presidential vote
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
Long march to end employment bias |
Variety is the spice of academic life |
Documents prove the truth can't be buried |
Race to remember story of resistance |
Strait talking: From enemy to friend |
Welcome to the world’s largest garbage dump |