Chapter 7 National Day Tour of the Forbidden City (1)

In the lead-up to the National Day holiday, the official WeChat account of the Palace Museum published a news item—

Dear viewers:

As the National Day holiday approaches, the Palace Museum will present an unmissable cultural feast for everyone during this joyous occasion! During the holiday, we will be hosting a temporary exhibition of five priceless treasures, which span the long river of history and carry countless stories and memories, and will soon be on display for you.

I. White Jade Pillow with Dragon Pattern

II. A whisk with a handle decorated with a black bird motif

III. A Qing Dynasty White Marble Burial Jar with Scrolling Floral Pattern

IV. Spring and Autumn Period Chu Style Dragon-Riding Bronze Zun

V. A bronze axe inlaid with jewels from the Zeng State during the Spring and Autumn Period

During the National Day holiday, in addition to the exhibition of these five important cultural relics, the Palace Museum will also hold a series of colorful activities, including expert-guided tours, cultural lectures, and interactive experiences, to allow everyone to gain a deeper understanding of the history and culture behind the cultural relics.

Exhibition dates: October 1st - October 7th

Exhibition Venue: Palace Museum [Hall xx]

How to visit: Please make a reservation in advance using your real name through the "Palace Museum" WeChat mini-program and visit according to your reserved time.

Originally, this was just an ordinary promotional announcement, but it quickly went viral across the global internet.

That's right, it's the whole world.

At the heart of the storm was this third artifact—a Qing Dynasty white marble burial jar with intertwined floral patterns!

Some overseas netizens were surprised to discover that, through comparison of high-definition detailed images on the official WeChat account, this cultural relic, which will soon be exhibited at the Palace Museum in City B, looks exactly like the one stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, some time ago!

Is this reasonable?

This is unreasonable!!!

There were already rumors circulating that only a few Chinese tourists were present at the scene of the Louvre Museum theft. Now, they've just had a theft, and you're suddenly exhibiting something here, and you're saying you didn't steal it?!

The Louvre Museum also quickly issued a statement, releasing detailed information about the stolen artifact on its official website: "The stolen Qing Dynasty white marble burial jar with intertwined floral patterns is 25 cm high, 12 cm in diameter at the mouth, and 15 cm in diameter at the base."

Although no names were explicitly mentioned, it's clear to anyone with eyes that the data matches the proportions in the picture exactly.

French social media exploded instantly, with everyone unanimously condemning the behavior as utterly despicable!

A group of so-called scholars, writers, historians, and artists jumped out, took the picture from the public account, analyzed it from various angles, dissected it, and boldly argued that it was the same cultural relic stolen from France!

The hashtag #LouvreTheft spread like wildfire across the English Channel and the Alps, reaching all of Europe.

Screenshots from the video of the theft that day also circulated from unknown sources, exposing the four distinctly Eastern faces of Xiao Tao, Yu Hui, Zhou Jing, and Zhou Mei to the public.

"voleurs!" (French for thieves)

"Thieves!" (English: robbers)

"Diebe!" (German: thief)

"Ladri!" (Italian for thief)

Netizens from several major European countries, speaking different languages, were hurling insults at each other in the comments section, their anger practically burning through the screen!

And the reaction of Chinese netizens—

[What do you mean by "your country's stuff"? When did Europe ever have a dynasty called the Qing Dynasty? Are you going to claim the Forbidden City was built by you next year?]

Back when you broke into someone's house at gunpoint and stole their things, why didn't you look at your own shameless, robber-like face in the mirror?

Wait, isn't that my Xiaotao?

[That guy in the anime hoodie looks familiar, like I've seen him somewhere before. Maybe he's an online scammer? Turns out he's a thief too?]

[Great, great, great! I, Master Yu, have finally upgraded from a charlatan to an international master thief!]

[Eastern magic, telekinesis, right? Impressive!]

[Are you crazy? Who are you calling a thief? This video screenshot is from last month. I, Master Yu, have been back in China streaming for a month now. If there were really a problem, would France have let them come back?]

[Seriously, let Zhou Jing and Zhou Mei go. These two socially awkward girls can't even speak clearly in a crowd. Are you saying they're international thieves???]

Did Ms. Zhang offend someone? How come she's being dragged into such outrageous news?

Wait a minute, what are you guys talking about? What do these four handsome men and beautiful women do? They're so good-looking, are they actors?

[Here's a little-known fact: their boss is even better looking.]

[Shan Hai Live, all beauties, check it out!]

In a short time, the hashtags #PalaceMuseumNationalTreasuresExhibition# and #MountainsAndSeasLiveStream# topped the headlines on major internet platforms.

The Palace Museum's WeChat mini-program was overwhelmed with traffic; tickets for all time slots were snapped up the moment they went on sale.

Those who failed to secure tickets lamented on social media, pounding their chests in frustration.

Just as the entire internet was buzzing and tickets were in high demand, a striking announcement suddenly popped up on the homepage of Shan Hai Live, with large, gold-embossed characters against a red background:

[Exclusive live stream from the Palace Museum on October 1st: Let the world witness the inheritance of culture!]

Simply put, Shan Hai Live will exclusively broadcast these five newly exhibited cultural relics live from the Palace Museum on October 1st.

Clicking through leads to a live streaming account called "The Palace Museum," which is currently broadcasting, but it's only showing educational videos.

However, this also gave foreign netizens a target to criticize!

The comments section is a chaotic mix of languages ​​from various countries.

Here's how Chinese netizens responded:

If you don't understand Korean, say Chinese, please.

Foreign friend: "..."

It's frustrating when you want to criticize someone, but the person you're criticizing doesn't understand.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a magical prompt popped up, offering them the most considerate help in their native language—

[The system detected that the user's current language is not Chinese. To facilitate communication with other users, we recommend using the intelligent translation function. Annual subscription fee is $98 USD, lifetime subscription fee is $199 USD. Supports translation between multiple languages ​​and Chinese.]

To buy or not to buy?

Is that even a question?!

Buy it all!!!