Museo Egizio China Tour: Hundreds of ancient Egyptian relics exhibited in Shanxi

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The famous Egyptian Museum in the Italian city Turin, the Museo Egizio, is bringing hundreds of its relics on a tour of Chinese cities. Some of these items have never even been shown in Turin. The exhibition is now in North China's Shanxi Province, and is amazing the large crowds with its mysterious mummies and magnificent statues. Our reporter Hu Chao has more.

A feast of ancient Egyptian culture, more than two hundred relics from the land of the Pharaohs are now on display in Shanxi Museum. Under the theme "Egypt-House of Eternity", the exhibition reveals the daily lives of ancient Egyptians, their multiple gods and their religious beliefs in the afterlife.

Many of the relics on display date back to around three thousand years ago. They include statues, mummies, coffins, burial objects, stone tablets and wall carvings. Two human mummies are on display, with a video that uses modern technology to show what the inside of the preserved body looks like.

NI YAN, MUSEUM VISITOR "This human mummy is really different from what I've seen on TV. It's amazing."

Some animal mummies are also on display, including cats, a crocodile and a fish. Two statues of the goddess Sekhmet from Karnak Temple, and a Book of the Dead are making their world debuts on this China tour.

Museum officials say the exhibition is one of the most popular in recent years, bringing in nearly 200,000 visitors since it started in mid-April.

YU JIANJUN MUSEUM VISITOR "I think the exhibition was arranged very well. The atmosphere here brings you back to the era of ancient Egypt. I can't take my eyes off the items here.”

YAO XIANG, GUIDE PUBLIC SERVICE DEPT., SHANXI MUSEUM "From our audio guide data, we've found that the human and animal mummies, large stone statues, the Book of the Dead and female cosmetics are attracting the most attention from the visitors."

The exhibition is free to the public and will stay in Shanxi Museum till late June. It will then travel to Liaoning, Hunan and Guangdong Provinces. Hu Chao, CGTN, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.