Palace souvenirs selling hot

The Palace Museum in Beijing is drawing attention from the public for its avant-garde souvenirs. The most widely discussed item is a set of stereo earphones that resembles a string of pearls. The design mimics chaozhu, which was worn by high-ranking officials attending royal court during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) .

The earphones, priced at 120 yuan ($19.60) each, are sold out, the museum's publicity department said on Friday, adding that it was rushing to order new supplies. T-shirts with images of chaozhu are also popular items. Visitors can design their own shirts by including elements of ancient paintings, calligraphy and porcelain images from the museum's collection.

The museum, which offers around 6,000 different kinds of souvenirs, opened an online store on Taobao in 2008. "We've seen too many similar souvenirs in different scenic spots all over the country," says Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum. Shan says members of the younger generation aren't interested in replicas of cultural relics, so they're trying a different approach to reach new customers. "Our store used to sell items that didn't have a connection with our museum," Shan says. "Now, we want the souvenirs to have a direct link to the Palace Museum. No matter how small a piece is, it should be delicately made and meaningful."