It was a rainy day so I went over to the National Museum.

Sorry, no pictures allowed.

But if you are ever here don’t miss it. This is one of the great museums of the world. 6500 years of Chinese history.

When the Nationalist government fell to Mao it did not happen over a weekend. They had plenty of time in their retreat to Taiwan to run trains south with the contents of the museums and their homes and the banks.

I was told that the National Museum can display less than 15 percent of what they store at any time. They have rare books, 400,000 documents, bronzes, porcelains, jewelry, art objects, clothing. Most of which would have been destroyed by Mao’s red guards if left in the North.

Every year when I come they have a new special exhibition or two. The calligraphy section seemed to be reworked, an exhibit on ancient book binding, and a porcelain exhibit of flower pots, which sounds dopy, but was good.

They have the best technical exhibit on bronzes. As an old Engineer who got an A in metallurgy, and like museums with the bronze work of different cultures, I love it.

They explain the ancient formulas for combinations of tin and copper so that arrow heads are sharp, while cooking pots are strong, and bells ring without cracking, and mirrors are shiny. And complicated constructions like a copper core for a sword for toughness with a high tin overlay that can be sharpened.

Unfortunately with busloads of Northern Chinese every day it is almost impossible to visit anymore with really a hundred people in lines for the most interesting exhibits.

But it is still a world treasure.