Jewels brought home - but it takes patience

During the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 a fire set off in the uprising in the Hanlin Library in Beijing destroyed copies of one of its most prized treasures: the Yongle Dadian, the world's largest paper encyclopedia, from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Some of the copies that survived were looted later by the invading Eight-Power Allied Forces from the imperial library of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Exactly how many copies of the encyclopedia were taken remains a mystery.

Among the 300-odd precious ancient books now on display in the National Library of China to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the founding of the library are some of the country's cultural treasures that were eventually returned from overseas.