Creative souvenirs a new 'benchmark'

Mascots of Beijing's Palace Museum, Zhuangzhuang (left) and Meimei.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Lei Shiyi, a college student from Chongqing, bought two bookmarks from the souvenir store inside the Palace Museum, commonly known as the Forbidden City.

"It feels like I'm taking part of the Forbidden City back home," Lei said.

The museum's creative endeavor began in 2007 when it produced souvenirs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Over the next decade, it produced more than 9,600 items featuring the imperial palace and its exhibits - silk scarves, for instance, in the patterns of emperors' dragon robes, or Chinese checkers sets drawing their inspiration from the roof. The museum boasts nearly 2 million antiques in its collection.

"It is a museum's mission to connect cultural products with people's daily lives, and to uphold cultural values," said Shan Jixiang, director of the museum.

"In the past, souvenirs that were sold at the Palace Museum emphasized history, knowledge and the arts, but they lacked novelty and originality," Shan said.

"Currently, they don't meet the demand of customers, young people in particular. We have to find a better way to show customers the Palace Museum's cultural significance," he said.

Yang Xiaobo, head of the museum's business management division, added: "The museum's products are popular with tourists, which is a point of pride and inspires us to develop more."