An opera actress performs at the Changyin Pavilion Opera House on Sept 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

"We have red walls, yellow tiles and blue sky today," said Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, in his keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the forum. "The three primary colors can form any color in the world - just as world culture is diverse, rich and splendid in nature."

The idea for the forum came to Shan during a business trip to Afghanistan when he was unable to visit local cultural relics because of social unrest.

That's when he got the idea of building a dialogue platform for countries with ancient civilizations that are striving to sustain them through natural disasters, war, terrorism, illegal sales and improper protection methods.

With the support of the Chinese government, the First Taihe Forum was held last fall in Beijing. Eight countries jointly produced its Declaration of Supreme Harmony, which aims to address challenges and explore effective and sustainable inheritance paths for human civilization.

In support, the Palace Museum presented an exhibition titled Afghanistan: Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul this year - the first exhibition of Afghan cultural relics in China.

According to Shan, an exhibition hall for foreign antiquities will be open to visitors next year.

Fang Aiqing contributed to this story.