Treasures travel south

[Photo provided to China Daily]

According to Shan Jixiang, the head of the Palace Museum, visitors to the original Hall of Mental Cultivation are now able to have only a glimpse of its interiors through locked windows. But, the public will be allowed into the rooms in the future.

As part of the preparations, a major renovation project is now on and will be completed by 2020.

The ongoing renovation means that cultural relics have been moved out of the hall. The exhibits in Hong Kong are part of the collection.

In 2007, the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, the Palace Museum took its Along the River During the Qingming Festival landscape painting to the city for a major exhibition called Pride of China.

"But this time, we want to show other treasures," says Shan.

"We'd like to tell the emperors' stories."

Before becoming the abode of the emperors, the Hall of Mental Cultivation was used for other purposes.

The Ming Emperor Jiajing, for instance, had his elixirs made there, and Emperor Kangxi, father of Yongzheng, used it as a workshop to produce artifacts.