Chinese treasures go on display in Sunderland

by The Journal

THE history and culture of China are explored in an exhibition which opened at the weekend.

China: Journey to the East features more than 100
objects from the British Museum and represents its largest ever UK loan of Chinese material.

It can be seen at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Borough Road, until May 9.

Highlights include five pastries found in a cemetery in a Chinese desert region and donated to the museum in 1928.

They date from the Tang Dynasty, 725 to 775 AD, and their survival seems miraculous.

You will also see the headrest displayed here by Alison Leppard, a British Museum assistant who was in Sunderland to help mount the exhibition.

It dates from the Song Dynasty, 960-1279, and shows warriors wielding fire guns.

You may already have seen one of the exhibition objects, a startling piece which featured on the posters.

It is an earthenware roof tile made in the form of a famous Chinese warrior, Guan Yu, between 1490 and 1620.

Admission to the exhibition is free. Details of activities running alongside the exhibition can be found on www.twmuseums.org.uk/sunderland .