On July 19th 2023 , the multilingual website of the Forbidden City Palace Museum- Beijing, China, People’s Republic of China was officially released at the Digital Cultural Tourism Development Forum of the 2023 China Internet Civilization Conference! The website covers five languages: English, French, Russian, Japanese, and Spanish, and will meet the needs of audiences with different languages.
The ” Golden Neighbors Shining Together – A Special Exhibition of Cultural Relics Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Thailand,” jointly curated by the Palace Museum and the Department of Fine Arts, Ministry of Culture of Thailand, will officially open to the public on November 18th in the Wenhua Hall. The exhibition is co-promoted by the Thai Embassy in China and receives charitable support from the Palace Museum Foundation in Beijing and Thai foundations.
The name “Golden Neighbors” originates from ancient Chinese records describing the area in present-day Thailand as a region rich in gold and silver. This exhibition brings together over 240 sets of precious cultural relics from China and Thailand, employing a “dual narrative” structure to showcase the diverse charm of Thailand’s millennia-old civilization and to narrate the mutual learning between Chinese and Thai civilizations throughout history. The exhibition runs until February 24, 2026. Visitors can enter for free by purchasing a Palace Museum ticket and making a reservation for this exhibition .
As early as 100,000 years ago, traces of human activity existed in what is now Thailand. In the 2nd century BC, the Kra Isthmus and its surrounding area, located at the narrowest point of the Malay Peninsula, gradually developed into an important hub of the Southeast Asian trade network. From the 6th to the 13th centuries, city-states such as Dharamshala, Rahu, and Srivijaya gradually rose to prominence. According to Tang and Song dynasty records, these city-states frequently engaged in trade and cultural interaction with China and surrounding regions. In the 13th century, Sukhothai, the first dynasty established by the Thai people in Thai history, was founded, and official exchanges with China began. Subsequently, through the historical periods of Ayutthaya, Thonburi, and Rattanakosin, the ties between China and Thailand grew increasingly close, with frequent exchanges of envoys, trade, and technological integration. The rich cultural heritage that remains to this day serves as historical evidence of the friendly exchanges between the two countries. The first unit of the GoldenNeighborsShiningTogether exhibition, “China and Thailand Shining Together,” mainly showcases the early history of Thailand from prehistoric times to the establishment of the first Thai state in the 13th century, as well as the exchanges and interactions with China after the 13th century .
Beginning in the 3rd century BCE, Buddhism spread from India to surrounding regions. During the Dharamshala period, Theravada Buddhism, a southern tradition, formed a network of transmission in central Thailand. By the Sukhothai period, Buddhism was officially adopted as the state religion. Thai Buddhist art flourished alongside the development of Buddhist culture, primarily manifested in the officially constructed temples and pagodas, as well as rich architectural decorations, Buddhist-themed paintings and sculptures, and diverse ritual implements and objects.
Images and visuals are from – Forbidden City –Palace Museum Beijing- China –People’s Republic of China…..
