Situated in a park-like area¡Awith broad steps lead-ing to its impressive facade¡Athe National Palace Museum houses the world’s richest collection of Chinese art trea- sures. Completed in 1965, the newbuilding is of classical palatial design, yet congorms to the requirement of a modern museum. Glazed green tile roofs with decoraged yellow ridges and light yellow walls accentuate the graceful lines of the buildeng, while the interior walls are marble. Designed by top architects, the four stories cover 7,040 square meters of floor space, providing eight galleries, 16 display rooms, a lecture hall,offices and a libarary. The building is air-conditionde for the comfort of the visi-tor, and the best precautionary measures for the protection of the art treasures against earthquakes, typhoons and humidity have been taken consideration in its comstruction. Various collections , gormerly belonging to the Ching palaces at Peiping, Jehol ane Mukden , are the accumulated court treasures of several dynasties. Previously reserved only for the pleasure and edificationof the royal household, they are now in the care of the National Palace Museum of the Republic of China. It is the function and aim of the Museum to see to their preservation , to make the bestuse of the valuable collection in classifying and arranging objects for display and to cnduct specialize dresearch to emphasize the long history of the nation. There are nearly a total of a quarter of a million items in the entire collection and a tunnel warehouse , 180.45 meters long and 3.6 meters wide , dug intothe mountain behind the Museum provides safe storage against all hazards. Some 3,000 items are on display , and materials are periodically changed so that visitors may see differnt ob- jects and paintings , some of which have never been shown publicly.