BEIJING, Jan. 13 -- Many Chinese are now engaged in opening private museums on subjects ranging from coins, furniture to stamps, but Pan Jie is the only one who has been running a private museum focused on Sino-U.S. relations.

    In his hometown Hangzhou by the side of the breath-taking West Lake, Pan, 75, did not hide his pride in his project he has been launching with his wife since he retired 15 years ago. The Sino-U.S. Friendship Museum, a is now putting on a brand new exhibition for marking the 30th anniversary of Sino-U.S diplomatic relations.

    At the front entrance of the Museum, there stands a bronze statue of Dr. Henry Kissinger, the man who pioneered for the thawing of the U.S.-Chinese relations in early 1970s. The formal inauguration of the museum was on the same day of the 80th birthday of the former U.S. Secretary of State. There is also a signed photo of Kissinger and a letter of congratulations from the world-known diplomat on display.

    Pan used to be a researcher at Zhejiang Provincial Museum. He became interested in studying Sino-U.S. relations in the 1980s, when a team of American and Chinese-American writers paid a visit to Hangzhou. In 1985, Pan set up a foundation for studying Sino-U.S. relations with his own savings. Since then, he was invited to visit the U.S. by some Chinese-Americans, and made friends with many people, including Madame Chenault, a prominent Chinese-American woman.

    Pan said he was also greatly inspired by Qian Xuesen (Chien Hsuch-Sen), a world renowned U.S.-educated Chinese scientist, who encouraged him to open a museum after retirement. After he retired, Pan collected and spent 43,000 U.S dollars in this project by organized nine exhibitions and published several books, all of them on Sino-U.S. relations. One of the exhibition was on the history of early Chinese-Americans who emigrated to America during the Qing Dynasty.

    Soundbite: Pan Jie "Qian told me the best way to carry out scientific studies and researches is to keep pursuing it to the deep. He suggested me to establish a museum after retirement to study museum science and put my own ideas through the project."

    The items on display are mainly documents, old newspapers, photos, pictures and paintings. Pan once produced a hanging scroll made of silk depicting the first American cargo vessel to China, "The Chinese Empress". He presented it as a gift to President George W. Bush upon his election as president in 2001.

    (Source: XHTV)