Dear Friend,

	The National Palace Museum

Today we visited the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Its collection of more than 650,000 Chinese historical artifacts is one of the largest in the world. The museum is a great place to see traditional Chinese artwork such as calligraphy and porcelain ceramics. Only a small portion of the museum’s entire collection is on display at one time. The museum curators change the exhibits about four times a year, and it would take more than twenty years to see all of the art in the museum!

The Museum Grounds

When not on display, some of the artwork and more valuable items are stored in vaults under the museum. But much of the collection is kept in special vaults that were built into caves found in the mountain behind the museum. After World War II, the Taiwanese government decided that the mountain caves would be the best and safest storage place for many of the museum’s works of art. Too bad I won’t be in Taiwan long enough to see everything stored in the mountain! :-(

Your friend,

Carla