Exhibitions illustrate China's march of progress

Ancient artifacts help people overseas to better understand the country. Wang Kaihao reports.

In the 1690s, Salem, Massachusetts, cemented its place in history for its notorious witch hunts. But things are different now. From August to February, the small city of about 40,000 inhabitants in the United States attracted favorable attention for its exhibition on high-ranking historical Chinese women.

The exhibition, Empresses of China's Forbidden City, on loan from Beijing, features around 200 artifacts telling the stories of the most powerful women of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).