Maritime Silk Road: New museum opens in China's Fujian Province exploring ancient sea route
The ancient Maritime Silk Road once served as an important economic and cultural bridge between the East and West. To help people learn more about cultural exchange on the legendary route, the new Maritime Silk Road Museum has opened its doors in the city of Shishi, Quanzhou, Fujian province. CGTN's Wu Lei has more.
A new door opens, reviving the old cultures of the Maritime Silk Road.
Covering an area of nearly 11-thousand-5-hundred square meters, the Shimao Maritime Silk Road Museum displays around 2 thousand cultural relics, from porcelain and tea sets to silk that were famous along the legendary oceanic route.
LI ZHONGMOU Director, Fujian Shimao Maritime Silk Road Museum "In addition to the displays, we also use digital and interactive multimedia. We hope the audience is able to explore this museum with their own eyes, ears and hands, so they can gain a better understanding about the cultures of the Maritime Silk Road."
Flourishing between the 2nd century BC and 15th century, the Maritime Silk Road served as a gateway of trade and cultural exchange between ancient China and foreign countries.
HUI WING MAU Chairman, Shi Mao Group "Quanzhou was the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, and the city of Shishi is also my hometown. The culture of the Maritime Silk Road was spread to Southeast Asia and other countries from here. That's why I built this museum right here."
This museum is established by Shimao Group, a global real estate giant and is backed by the Palace Museum, one of Beijing's most iconic landmarks. The latter is showcasing more than 300 relics in the Maritime Silk Road Museum, and is promising to display more in future.
WANG XUDONG Director, Palace Museum "Collaborations like this, between a national museum and a private one, set a good example. In the future, national museums will give more support to private ones, and our expertise in protecting and managing relics will help them better manage their own museums."
The Maritime Silk Road Museum will officially open to the public on Thursday. It's hoped it will provide a window and insight into a sometimes neglected history.
WU LEI Quanzhou, Fujian "Connectivity and exchanges are fundamental to the Maritime Silk Road. This museum plans to cooperate with more domestic and foreign museums to showcase more cultural relics to people around the world. Wu Lei, CGTN. Quanzhou City, Fujian Province."