The National Palace Museum

The National Palace Museum in Taipei houses some of the worlds best examples of Chinese artifacts. The treasures were originally held in the Forbidden City in Beijing. During the war, however, the extensive collection was transferred to numerous cities to avoid destruction. The artifacts were finally relocated to Taiwan in 1945. The museum opened in 1965 and has over 620,000 Chinese artifacts ranging from calligraphy and pottery to jade. Some pieces date back to 3000 BC. Since the collection is so large, only a few thousand pieces are displayed at a time. The rest are stored in huge underground vaults that are carved into the mountain side. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside the museum, so if you want to see the elaborate collection you'll have to go to Taiwan. :)