A visitor looks at the map of northwest China during the reign of Ming Emperor Tianqi inside China's National Library, which kicked off an exhibition of rare collections on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. [Photo: Xinhua]

China's National Library put on display its finest collection of documents, books, ancient maps and old photographs on Tuesday as part of the celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the library's founding, which falls on September 9.

The exhibition includes both Chinese and foreign items, some in digitalized forms. Some collections are opened to the public for the first time.

Visitors are given the opportunity to view oracle bone scripts, ancient manuscripts from Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, and documents from the ancient Western Regions of Asia.

Rare books made in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, along with stone rubbings of inscriptions are exhibited. Visitors can also browse documents written in languages used by ethnic minorities in China, and documents of the United Nations.