The National Art Museum of China is buzzing. Almost 700 selected artworks are on show "representing the highest level in artistry and the widest scope of the Chinese nation's remarkable achievement in visual arts", says museum dean Fan Di'an.

The exhibition has been made possible with joint efforts from a dozen major museums, art galleries in China, and some private collectors from home and abroad, and kicks off a series of celebratory art shows at the museum to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, organizers say.

"Generations of artists have actively taken part in the construction of New China, successfully transforming traditional art idioms and new ideas, as well as genres and techniques borrowed from the West into a new language for the depiction of socialist workers," Culture Minister Cai Wu said at last week's opening ceremony.

"From history to social reality, from metropolises to rural areas, 60 years of New China art has illustrated or reflected in one way or another various aspects of social trends and changes, leaving for future generations a precious legacy."

The exhibition features a bulk of works in oil, ink, prints, sculptures of different eras, vintage New Year woodblock pictures of 1950s, the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) political posters, original drafts for popular picture-story books, caricatures criticizing social injustices in the early 1980s, pastel, watercolor, and traditional as well as innovative lacquer paintings, and mixed media works by younger artists over the past two decades.

It occupies all the display halls of the museum, with the iconic oil works of exciting historic scenes such as Dong Xiwen's The Grand Ceremony for the Founding of New China, and Chen Yifei's and Wei Jingshan's collaborative work Takeover of the President's Office of Republic of China, as centerpieces in the central, circular display hall on its first floor.

Visitors may also watch prize-winning cartoons such as Upheaval in Heaven by Monkey King, and The Little Frogs Looking for Moms created with a clever use of Chinese folk art and ink painting skills by such masters as Zhang Guangyu and Wan Laiming.

For Zhong Hongqi, a former village leader in Shifang, Sichuan province, a visit to the exhibition is a journey back in time.

When he was a young man, the 68-year-old bought copies of ink works by masters such as Pan Tianshou and Qi Baishi to decorate the blank walls of his thatched house.

Wang Chengwei, a college student from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, caught an overnight train to see the exhibition. "The exhibition serves as a multimedia textbook for me about the landmarks and legendary pieces in Chinese art history, with original works, detailed explanations by guides, and academic lectures by art professors during the show."