July 21, 2004 
MEDIA CONTACT: Caroline Witherspoon
                  Becker Communications
                  (808) 533-4165

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hawai‘i's BISHOP MUSEUM ESTABLISHES SISTER MUSEUM RELATIONSHIP WITH FUJIAN PROVINCIAL MUSEUM 
HONOLULU &ndash; What started as an archaeological trip to China to view ancient sites of remote Polynesian ancestry has resulted in a historic agreement between two of the world&rsquo;s most prestigious museums. Hawai‘i &rsquo;s Bishop Museum has partnered with the Fujian Provincial Museum in South China to establish a long-term, collaborative relationship promoting friendship and mutual understanding of cultures and historic archives between the U.S. and China.</p>
                  <p> As comprehensive museums for studying, collecting and displaying historical and natural objects, Bishop Museum and the Fujian Provincial Museum partnered to ensure the development and exchange of programs and exhibits that explore Polynesian and Asian cultures, ethnology, archaeology, natural sciences and academic programs. This agreement ultimately will strive to effectively promote cultural studies around the world. </p>
                  <p> &quot;Our new partnership provides an extraordinary opportunity to link with China on our shared history of the Pacific,&rdquo; said Bishop Museum President Bill Brown. </p>
                  <p> Hawai‘i &rsquo;s Bishop Museum was originally established to house an extensive collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, and has since expanded to include over 14 million artifacts, documents and photographs about Hawai&lsquo;i and Polynesia at large. Today, Bishop Museum is the largest museum in the state and the premier natural and cultural history institution in the Pacific, recognized throughout the world for its cultural collections, research projects, consulting services, the world&rsquo;s largest natural history specimen collection and public educational programs. </p>
                  <p> The Fujian Provincial Museum, located in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, is the largest museum in the province, devoted to study and display cultural and natural history of Southeast China. The Fujian Provincial Museum houses an extensive collection of archaeological artifacts, fine arts and natural history specimens of the province, highly recognized for its archaeological research projects and educational programs in China. </p>
                  <p>For the past 4 years, Dr. Tianlong Jiao of Bishop Museum and his colleagues have been conducting archaeological research in South China in an effort to determine the settlement of the Pacific by Austronesians. The impetus for the Austronesian migrations from southeast coastal China to Taiwan, to the Philippines and finally the Pacific Islands has been a fascinating topic to scholars of Polynesia and is an important factor in modern day Hawai‘i.</p>
                  For information about Bishop Museum, call (808) 847-3511 or visit <a href="http://www.bishopmuseum.org/"> www .bishopmuseum.org</a>.