Qianlong Garden opens after century-long wait

The Qianlong Garden is nestled in the northeast corner of the Forbidden City. Emperor Qianlong commissioned it as his dream retreat for when he retired. Its restoration was a joint effort by the World Monuments Fund and the Palace Museum. The Qianlong Garden restored with the support of the World Monuments Fund opened to the public in September. Could you share with us the collaboration process and the significance? From 2000 to 2003, the Foundation, the Palace Museum and international conservation experts began with a thorough assessment of the Qianlong Garden, studying its microclimate and all key issues related to the conservation of historic buildings. Based on this detailed data, we established three core standards. First, all work had to follow internationally accepted conservation principles. Second, we prioritized reviving traditional Chinese craftsmanship, making its rediscovery and renewal a central goal of the project. And third, we aimed to set a model for effective collaboration between Chinese and international institutions. In the end, I believe we achieved all three. Though small in scale, the garden is a masterpiece, laid out in four courtyards running south to north. Weaving together the finest traditions of northern and southern Chinese garden design, it blends scholarly refinement with imperial splendor, standing as a jewel in the history of classical gardens both in China and worldwide. This place is really fascinating. It's the restored Juanqinzhai in the Qianlong Garden, One particularly interesting feature is the illusionistic panoramic painting on silk covering the ceiling. It was created using western linear perspective techniques, which are fundamentally different from traditional Chinese landscape painting principles. In this sense, the Qianlong Emperor was a remarkably creative curator who brought the most advanced artistic ideas and painting methods from around the world into his own design. The Qianlong Garden's opening unlocks a hidden gem of the Palace Museum's centuries-old heritage.