A footage shows Wang Chunfa, director of the National Museum of China introduces a Qing Dynasty ceramic zun vessel once adorning Yuanmingyuan the Old Summer Palace.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The spread of COVID-19 has driven museums and art galleries across the world to rely more on digital means to connect with people who are largely confined indoors.

The National Museum of China initiated Treasure Hunt Relay: Global Museum Director's Choice, an entirely online campaign in collaboration with another 15 museums across different continents, to extend their reach to audiences worldwide and to share valuable objects in their collections.

On Sunday night via live broadcast on several online platforms, Wang Chunfa, director of the National Museum of China, announced the official opening of the event. And he gave the first online presentation to introduce his museum, and he also shared his five favorite objects in the collection of the National Museum of China – a Neolithic eagle-shaped pottery ding vessel, a rhinoceros-shaped bronze zun dated to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), a Tang Dynasty (618-907) portrait depicting Fuxi and Nyuwa, considered the originators of human society in Chinese mythology, a bronze human life-size figure with acupuncture points made in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ceramic zun vessel once adorning Yuanmingyuan the Old Summer Palace.

In the following days, directors from other museums, including the British Museum, National Museum of Korea and The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History of South Africa, will take over the online relay to tell sahre stories behind a selection of cultural jewels they each oversee.