Old Summer Palace launches restoration of historic relics

Beijing's Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, has recently launched a large-scale restoration project to repair broken cultural relics that had been unearthed, according to China Central Television.

Six pieces of porcelain are part of the first batch of cultural relics to be repaired, including two bowls used during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

They will be displayed in Yuanmingyuan after restoration, which is expected to be completed by the end of May. Meanwhile, they will be 3D scanned and documented by the palace's online museum, which allows the public to catch a glimpse of them via its official Wechat account.

Chen Hui, an official of the management office of the palace, said the restoration work will continue to repair more excavated fragments.

So far, around 100,000 pieces of chinaware fragments and items such as colored glaze ware and stone carvings have been unearthed at the Old Summer Palace.

The Old Summer Palace was sacked and destroyed in 1860 during the invasion of Anglo-French allied forces.