TEHRAN – On Monday, at Beijing’s National Museum of China, doors opened on a major exhibition titled “The Splendor of Asia: An exhibit of Asian Civilizations,” that is aimed to present a wealth and diversity of cultural heritage across the Asian continent.

The event that runs through August 11, offers visitors a journey across the vast lands of the continent and travel through its long history by presenting 451 cultural relics from 47 Asian countries including Iran and it also showcases objects from Greece and Egypt.

Iran has sent 15 historical relics to the event that will be running through August 11. The objects includes clay works, Achaemenid inscriptions, Sassanid sculptures and glassworks which represent the long-lasting relationship between Iran and China.

 “Different countries closely cooperated with each other for this exhibition,” said Guan Qiang, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, China Daily reported.

“Such a large number of top-level exhibits and participating countries have never been seen before in one exhibition in China," Guan said, addressing the opening ceremony.

The ceremony was also attended by ministers, officials and diplomats from various countries.

Liu Zheng, a member of the China Cultural Relics Academy, told the Global Times on Monday that ancient relics, carrying the spirit of civilizations, tell people stories of how our ancestors communicated “in a most vivid and convincing fashion,” Global Times reported.

Greece and Egypt, which represent two ancient civilizations, are also invited to the exhibit, which is a great opportunity for visitors to see the cultures that have close ties with Asia through the ancient Silk Road trading routes, Liu said.

The event will be followed by the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) on Wednesday, which organizers say aims to highlight the time-enduring communication and “harmony in diversity” of different civilizations.

AFM/MG