Global treasures on the Chinese stage

"In 2006 Art Exhibitions China brought a foreign exhibition to China for the first time, one about Indian culture. Last year we were involved in about 20 exhibitions. Twenty percent of them were incoming ones. In 2016 China held 36 exhibitions on cultural relics abroad, while hosting the same number of such shows from overseas.

"One way for Chinese museums to share expenses and save money is to team up with one another for foreign shows that travel to several cities."

Yan, of the National Museum, says the 100 Objects exhibition in fact featured a 101st exhibit.

"By requesting that every participating museum add one more item of their own, the curator wanted to allow the show, which traces the trajectory of human development, an open ending. The choice of our museum was a pen, used to sign China into the World Trade Organization in 2001, and the one by the Shanghai Museum was a two-dimensional code, composed by the micro images of all exhibits. Visitors could swipe their mobiles against the code to view detailed information about the show.

"And both were winking at what the National Museum of Australia in Canberra chose to show when the exhibition was there: a wireless transmitter, an Australian invention and the first one in human history. Together, they sent out a clear message: the globe is going global."