After what appears to be a multi-national team effort that stretched from East to West, the recently controversial Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology will be on full display starting Feb. 18.

Just days before the long-awaited exhibit, which explores the history of the desert landscape, people and trade in Western China's Tarim Basin, was set to open earlier this month, historical artifacts and mummies were pulled from the display at the request of Chinese officials.

While it's still unclear why that decision was reversed, the U.S. Ambassador to China (Penn grad Jon Huntsman) was among a list of mostly Chinese officials who were thanked in a Penn-issued news release on Friday.

The star of the full show is a nearly 4,000 year-old mummy that is pristinely preserved (with flaxen hair and eyelashes still in tact).

"The exhibit can help people understand China in a comprehensive way rather than what they see in movies," says Dr. Jun Huangpu, chairman of the board of the Main Line Chinese Culture Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that aims to bridge Chinese and American cultures.

"It helps people really appreciate the historical significance of China in global trade, so we can collaborate and compete better."

The full exhibit, including the reinstated artifacts, will be on display through Tuesday, March 15. The exhibit continues through March 28 without the two mummies. Penn Museum also extended exhibition hours to 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.