China's Chongqing Municipality announced Wednesday it would open a museum displaying the history of Palace Museum antiques moved there during World War II.

The museum will be located in a former bank, where over 4,000 antiques were stored during wartime, an official with the city's cultural heritage bureau told a press conference.

The items from the Palace Museum, also known as th Forbidden City, were moved to Chongqing in late 1930s when Japanese troops invaded Beijing.

During the Japanese bombing of Chongqing in the following years, the bank placed a Swedish flag on the roof, which protected the building from being targeted.

After the war ended in 1945, the antiques were returned to Beijing.

The museum, which is expected to open to tourists in October, will have a collection of historic photos and also hold temporary exhibitions and regular cultural lectures in cooperation with the Palace Museum, said the official. Endi

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