Relics highlight Tibet role in China's shared identity

The curtain was raised on Friday at the Palace Museum in Beijing on a three-month exhibition that showcases, through physical evidence, the foundations of a shared Chinese national identity.

For Auspicious Beginnings: Joint Exhibition of Artifacts from the Palace Museum and Tibet, 108 cultural relics are on display in the museum's Meridian Gate Galleries to demonstrate the close link between Tibet and the central governments in ancient times.

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, functioned as China's royal palace from 1420 until the end of the Chinese monarchy in 1911. It not only marks the apex of ancient Chinese architecture but, through its rich collection, also serves as a crucial witness of history.