The curator of the Beijing Palace Museum Zheng Xinmiao(L) and his Taipei counterpart Chou Kung-shin(R)

The Palace Museum in Beijing and the “National Palace Museum” in Taipei have joined hands for cultural exchanges. The curator of the Beijing Palace Museum Zheng Xinmiao began a high-profile visit on March 1 to arrange an exhibition of Chinese relics in Taiwan, the rivals’ first joint cultural program for six decades. This visit marks an important step in cross-Straits cooperation in cultural fields.

Zheng’s arrival marks the first-ever high-level exchange visits between the two museums’ directors since a rich collection of relics from Beijing’s former Imperial Palace, or the Forbidden City, were transferred to the island 60 years ago.

“The cultural relics of the Forbidden City are a symbol of the Chinese nation and fruits of our cultural heritage,” said Zheng Xinmiao at the welcoming ceremony.

“There is no museum like the two in Beijing and Taipei that share such a close reciprocal relation,” he said.

The portrait of the Qing Emperor Yongzheng