TAIYUAN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, opened its first cultural innovation center outside Beijing in the old town of Pingyao in north China's Shanxi Province.

The Palace Museum, boasting nearly 1.87 million items, is the largest museum of Chinese antiques in the country.

Its annual sales of souvenirs exceeded 1 billion yuan (about 158 million U.S. dollars) in 2017, and by the end of the year it had developed more than 9,600 cultural products, such as bookmarks and notebooks, inspired by the museum's antiques and artifacts.

Pingyao is a tourist attraction located about 600 kilometers southwest of Beijing with a history dating back some 2,700 years. Its old town is famous for its well-preserved city walls and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 1997.

"We hope to share our experience with Pingyao in the research and development of cultural products," said Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum.

"The center in Pingyao is expected to bring more innovative products to customers," said Shan.