The world-acclaimed Chinese painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival, and a batch of painting and calligraphy masterpieces arrived at the Hong Kong Museum of Art from Beijing Friday evening.

These national treasures will be put on display in an exhibition entitled "The Pride of China: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties from the Palace Museum" at the Museum of Art to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Over the past three months, staff from the Museum of Art and the Palace Museum in Beijing worked out a detailed plan to ensure the utmost security for the delivery and display of the exhibits, which date back more than 1,000 years and are graded as first-class cultural relics.

The success of the delivery Friday is also attributed to the assistance and special arrangements rendered by airports of Beijing and Hong Kong, and the tight security escort provided by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and Hong Kong Police, said an official with the Museum of Art.

Highlight exhibits include Zhang Zeduan's Along the River During the Qingming Festival of the Northern Song Dynasty, Feng Chengsu's Copy after Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Shen's Light Snow over a Fishing Village of Northern Song Dynasty, and Zhao Ji (Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty)'s Auspicious Dragon Rock of the Northern Song Dynasty.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2007)