Objects shown at the History of Museums exhibition include a clay vase dated around 450 BC. [Photo provided to China Daily]

As for exhibitions on foreign cultures, the museum usually incorporates a Chinese perspective to make it easier for visitors to understand, Gong adds.

Last year, the museum in cooperation with the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada held an exhibition juxtaposing objects dating to ancient Egypt and China's Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) that provided comparisons between the two civilizations on their attitudes toward life, power and immortality.

An Laishun, deputy chairman of the Beijing-based nonprofit Chinese Museums Association, says a museum should serve multiple purposes.

"It not only conserves a treasure trove of cultural memories and makes them understandable to people in contemporary times, but it also should reflect current social issues, such as urbanization and sustainable development, and become a channel appealing for actions for progress."

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

9 am-6 pm, last entry at 5 pm, through Aug 26.

4 Chaotian Gong (Palace), Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

025-8446-6460/8420-0177.