Photo by Jiang Dong /China Daily

The main line of the Silk Road was in use from the 2nd century BC to the 16th century AD and covered over 8,700 kilometers. Trade reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). A portion of the route was listed as UNESCO Cultural Heritage in June, including 22 sites in China, and others in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Six sections are included in the display, focussing on different themes, including a mixture of lifestyles, religious art, and businesses. It also has one section that covers the Maritime Silk Road, China's other ancient major cultural passage to foreign countries. Beijing's Capital Museum held Sailing Far and Wide on the Sea, an exhibition on the Maritime Silk Road, in May, and extended it for a month due to its huge popularity.

"It will be boring if we simply arrange the different sections according to a timeline," says Shan Yueying, curator of the exhibition. "We put each exhibit into a larger context of history and relate its interesting stories."

Multimedia methods are also applied to fill some blanks in history that cannot be presented via cultural relics, to better attract younger visitors.

"Some historical figures on the Silk Road are famous, but we haven't got cultural relics directly connected with them," Shan says. "So we've designed small interactive games to fit them into the big picture."

IF YOU GO

Silk Road

9 am to 5 pm (except Mondays, ticket office closes on 3:30 pm), through Jan 4, free of charge (ID card is needed to be shown for entry ticket). National Museum of China, 16 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng district.

Tel: 010-6511-6400 for group reservations. www.chnmuseum.cn