I am pleased to see that a long planned project to display US patent models held by the Hagley Museum and Library  in Delaware has now been brought to China.   The exhibit opened in Tsinghua University on March 27, and will continue on to Shenzhen, Shanghai and Wuhan, where it will close on September 24.  The “Spirit of Invention” (发明的精神) exhibit is comprised of sixty U.S. patent models, dating from 1836 to 1890. According to the press release,  Hagley and Tsinghua University will complement this presentation with academic symposia, and promotional campaigns connected to each exhibition venue.  Tsinghua’s announcement, excerpted below, is found here.

美国特拉华州哈格利（Hagley）博物馆与图书馆将于2018年3月—9月在中国北京、深圳等地举办 “发明的精神——美国哈格利（Hagley）博物馆与图书馆藏美国19世纪专利模型展（巡）”。本次展览将以实物展览的方式展出美国哈格利（Hagley）博物馆与图书馆收藏的60件1830年至1890年期间的专利模型和1件由乔治·华盛顿总统及其国务卿和司法部长于1797年共同签署的专利批准文件。展品还包括清华大学美术学院的师生团队根据哈格利（Hagley）博物馆的专利模型制作的视频、VR、模型以及图片文字说明，着重讲述发明背后的故事，鲜活再现专利发明的过程以及应用情况。

As China is focusing on “mass innovation”, the announcement notes that this exhibit complements this policy  noting how the patent models for the most part were made by common people in the United States.

Update from April 25, 2018: Here’s the Forbes Magazine article on the exhibit.