The Gallery of State Gifts at the National Museum of China

A more unusual collection at the National Museum of China, facing Tiananmen Square, is the Gallery of State Gifts: Historical Testament to Friendly Exchanges. This displays diplomatic gifts to Chinese leaders, Mao onwards, thoughtfully presented by leaders from countries around the globe. It resembles an upmarket junk shop, it is a collection of kitsch, if very expensive kitsch, and it is also a testament to the kind of stuff that taxpayers' money is wasted on in the name of diplomacy.
One very tasteful item that caught my eye was a wood-carved hand-shaped chair presented to Comrade Deng Xiaoping by Imelda Marcos, Special Envoy of the President of the Philippines in January 1984. Another was a delighful porcelain teapot presented to Comrade Jiang Zemin by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin in July 2001.
The gifts from British visitors are in contrast lacking such panache: a silver cigarette case and an engraved silver plate presented to Comrade Deng Xiaoping by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in September 1981 and December 1984 respectively, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented Comrade Hu Jintao with a Wedgwood bowl in January 2008.