A peek into world of basement treasures

The Palace Museum's vast display of paintings, calligraphy and ceramics actually account for less than 1 percent of its collection.

"The exhibits cover not even 1 percent because it is neither necessary nor possible for the museum to show everything to the public. We are not running an antique stall. We only display items that relate to a certain theme," says Gao He, former director of the storage department of the Palace Museum.

Gao says, while the museum does not have the space to display all the artifacts, some relics such as paintings and textiles are too fragile to be exposed for a long time.