National Palace Museum opens Qing relations show on 21 November

National Palace Museum opens By Land and By Sea: Qing China’s Foreign Relations in Taipei on 21 November 2026. The exhibition is at the Northern Branch, where the museum’s Chinese imperial collections are presented in a building that has served Taipei since 1965.

Qing foreign-relations exhibition opens on 21 November

By Land and By Sea: Qing China’s Foreign Relations runs from 21 November 2026 to 21 February 2027. The National Palace Museum lists it as a rare-books and documents exhibition in Exhibition Hall I 103 at the Northern Branch.

The exhibition provides a specific reason to include the Shilin museum in a Taipei itinerary during the period from late November to mid-February. Its subject also connects the gallery location with the museum’s wider role as a custodian of court records, books and historical documents. The official future-exhibition listing gives the dates, title and gallery together.

How the new exhibition fits the Taipei museum

The Taipei branch is the museum’s Northern Branch at No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, in Shilin District. The operator identifies the site as the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, while the exhibition listing places the new display in Exhibition Hall I.

The current building was completed in August 1965 and opened to the public on 13 November that year. The museum’s earlier institutional history reaches back to its founding in Beijing in 1925, but the Taipei site is the setting relevant to this exhibition. The museum’s collection includes Chinese calligraphy, paintings, bronzes, ceramics, jade, rare books and historical documents, making the documents in the new show part of a larger material history rather than an isolated display. Background on the museum’s history records its establishment in Taipei in 1965 and its imperial holdings.

What the November opening adds for visitors

The exhibition changes the focus available in Exhibition Hall I from 21 November. It gives visitors a dated opportunity to explore Qing foreign relations through archival material while other painting, calligraphy and conservation exhibitions remain on the museum’s 2026 programme.

The opening date falls within the current travel window, and the closing date extends beyond December into February 2027. That makes the display relevant both to a late-November visit and to a Taipei stay in December, without requiring a separate event or festival booking.

Visiting National Palace Museum: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• By Land and By Sea: Qing China’s Foreign Relations begins on 21 November 2026 and ends on 21 February 2027 in Exhibition Hall I 103 at the Northern Branch.
• The exhibition is listed as a public museum display, with no separate access restriction stated on the operator’s exhibition page.
• The Northern Branch is at No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City 111001, Taiwan.
• Mandarin is the official language of Taiwan, and the national currency is the New Taiwan dollar.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about National Palace Museum

When does By Land and By Sea take place at National Palace Museum?

By Land and By Sea: Qing China’s Foreign Relations runs from 21 November 2026 to 21 February 2027 in Exhibition Hall I 103.

Where is National Palace Museum and how do you get there?

The Northern Branch is at No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, in Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan.

What is National Palace Museum?

It is a museum of Chinese art and historical material whose current Taipei building opened to the public in 1965.