5-meter long ancient scroll painting is one of the most precious treasures of China

People lined up to wait for six hours to see one of China’s most famous artworks, an exquisite 12^th century scroll painting depicting the Song Dynasty capital of Haifeng during the festival of Qingming. The painting, titled Along the River during the Qingming Festival, has been copied several times, but the original is rarely displayed because it is so fragile.

The painting is sometimes called China’s Mona Lisa. It is on display until October 12, 2015, in the imperial Forbidden City in Beijing, which is the capital of China today.

Zhang Zeduan, who lived from 1085 to 1145, painted the scroll. It measures 24.8 centimeters high (9.76 inches) by 5.29 meters long (208 inches) and was meant to be held and unrolled by hand and viewed from right to left. Today such precious, old scroll paintings are laid out on tables under glass in museums. Some of the reproductions of this most famous Chinese painting are famous in themselves.