[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Many Chinese artists try to combine Western and Chinese ideas in art. However, it's difficult for them to become mainstream," he says.

"Young generations should better inherit traditions rather than merely use Western criteria."

Cui says his experience of living in the US in the 1980s and part of the '90s has made him better understand cultural diversity.

After stunning the home art market in recent years, Cui is now eager to have his paintings recognized worldwide.

"When I came back to China in 1996, a traditional Chinese painting created in the modern times only sold for a thousand yuan or so and was almost absent from international auctions," he recalls.

The market began to pick up a decade ago. One of Cui's works went for 7 million yuan at a Hong Kong auction in 2004.

Vincent van Gogh's and Pablo Picasso's works can be easily sold at steep prices, but Chinese artists still lag far behind, he says.

"It's not only my individual dream but perhaps the country's dream to surpass them all in terms of market performance."

Cui hopes to realize that at least by the time he is 80 years old.

If you go

8:30 am-4:30 pm, Mondays closed, through June 25.

Meridian Gate (Wu Men) exhibition hall, Palace Museum, 4 Jingshan Qianjie, Dongcheng district, Beijing.

Visit www.dpm.org.cn for more information.