Chinese History Museum: Discover Dunhuang Art in Beijing

Even though the Dunhuang grottoes were discovered 100 years ago, they remain a mystery to most Chinese. The grottoes, or caves, are the stuff of legend, of a time far removed from the present when men created a mystical dreamland to traffic in ideas completely opposite the commercial ends of the legendary Silk Road or life day-to-day difficulties. But, despite the construction of modern facilities designed to make the grottoes more available to tourists and students while protecting the grottoes and the art inside them going to the heavenly.

Museum of Chinese History: Every Picture Tells a Story

Modern Chinese popular culture is awash with representations of the country's imperial past. The beautiful heroine oppressed by an aged official or landowner has become a cliched staple of Chinese cinema, while on television, series after series draw on dynastic history or legendary tales for inspiration. Our historical imaginations are dominated by these fake snapshots of life in feudal China. An extraordinary exhibition at the Museum of Chinese History in October shattered many rose-tinted spectacles.

Chaoyang Cultural Palace

"Xu Wei is the Chaoyang Cultural Palace, and the palace is Xu Wei." This is how Li Xuefeng, a veteran photographer, usually introduces Xu Wei. He considers it the only proper way to describe Xu, 42, the director of the Chaoyang Cultural Palace. "I devote all my time and energy to running this place," Xu said. It seems "I have no spare time at all." Located 1.5 kilometers east of Hujialou, Dongsanhuan Lu, the Chaoyang Cultural Palace is one of the ten best cultural palaces in the country.