A visitor views a golden crown at the exhibition Golden Afghanistan – the Crossroad of Ancient Civilization in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

East China's Jiangsu province has 335 museums, all of which have played a significant role in encouraging exchange between Chinese and foreign cultures.

"Museums are footnotes to local culture and have a positive influence on people's aesthetic and cultural sensibility," said one Serbian student at the Nanjing University of the Arts, noting that Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu, has held many world-class exhibitions such as Golden Afghanistan – the Crossroad of Ancient Civilization in 2019.

A photograph exhibition held earlier this year in Nanjing also impressed Du Jin, who was born in the city and studies at the University of Sheffield in England. The exhibition featured more than 100 works that were created over the last century.

Through these art works, Du saw people traveling on camels beside the Egyptian pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza, well-preserved ancient Roman cities, the Callanish Standing Stones at dusk, and a green-eyed Afghan girl, he said.

Jiangsu's museums have also been seeking cooperation with foreign museums to further promote cultural exchange. For instance, the Suzhou Museum and the British Museum jointly held the exhibition Rome: city and empire in 2021 and will continue to cooperate in other matters in the coming years.