Rare viewing set for cream of ancient art

If you miss it now, there's no telling how long it will be before you'll get another opportunity to view Along the River During the Qingming Festival, the cream of Chinese fine art.

The work by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), perhaps the best-known ancient Chinese painting, will be unveiled to the public on Sept 8 in Beijing's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City. It has not been shown in its entirety since 2005.

The 24.8-centimeter-wide, 5.29-meter-long scroll depicts a flourishing landscape in the onetime national capital, Bianjing, which is today's Kaifeng in Henan province. About 600 figures, 100 houses and 25 boats are shown in great detail in the painting.