A cultural relic on display at the Chinese ancient civilization exhibition in the Captial Museum in Beijing on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The show will run till Sep 20. [Photo: Beijing Daily]

Rare cultural relics amassed from fifty-five museums all over the country will go on show in the Capital Museum on Tuesday. The 169 pieces of relics provide a golden opportunity for Olympic tourists to relish the Chinese culture.

Each item on display is the most valuable piece belonging to the museum they came from. They present the highest level of art covering the five thousand years of Chinese history.

Among the exhibits are a jade dragon representative of the Red Mountain Culture area in northern China where numerous prehistoric potteries and jade articles have been discovered; bronze ware from China's Xia, Shang, & Zhou dynasties (2100-221 BC), "Sun Bird" from the Shang dynasty, a piece of round gold decoration with a sun at its center and four flying birds around it, terracotta warriors from the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) and jade clothes sewn with golden thread from the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) as well as lacquer wares of Yuan (1271–1368) and enamel of Qing (1644-1911). Paintings and authentic calligraphy works by master hands in ancient times are also exhibited.

As those time-honored cultural relics are very delicate, many are seen covered by thick cloth while on display, for better protection. Some priceless exhibits like ancient silk paintings and have been kept from sunshine until the moment of exhibition.

The show will run till Sep 20.