For a survey of Chinese history, head to the National Museum of China. Positioned on the eastern edge of Tiananmen Square, the exhibits in this museum neatly outline the nation's past for visitors ...

Visitors at the Miraculous Life in the Ancient Oceans: Exhibition of Premium Fossils from the Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, held at the Natural History Museum of China in Beijing. WANG QIAN/CHINA ...

Depicting Taoist deities in a misty landscape, a Qing dynasty lacquer panel inlaid with jade and agate is among thousands of artefacts pulled out of museum ... in the heart of Beijing.

In the early 1930s, before Japanese forces swept across China, Palace Museum authorities packed up many pieces - including imperial thrones - and moved them out of Beijing to other cities.