A mix of science and tradition helps restore relics in China’s Forbidden City

A team of about 150 restorers fuses scientific analysis and traditional techniques to clean, patch up and otherwise revive the more than 1.8 million relics in the collection of Beijing’s Forbidden City. They include scroll paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, ceramics — even ornate antique clocks gifted to emperors by early European visitors. The restorers’ objective is to better preserve its artifacts for posterity. Qu Feng, head of the museum’s Conservation Department, says restoration techniques have also evolved over the years, though the old ways remain the foundation of the work at the Forbidden City, now a major tourist site in the heart of Beijing that’s formally known as the Palace Museum. A team of about 150 restorers fuses scientific analysis and traditional techniques to clean, patch up and otherwise revive the more than 1.8 million relics in the collection of Beijing’s Forbidden City. They include scroll paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, ceramics — even ornate antique clocks gifted to emperors by early European visitors. The restorers’ objective is to better preserve its artifacts for posterity. Qu Feng, head of the museum’s Conservation Department, says restoration techniques have also evolved over the years, though the old ways remain the foundation of the work at the Forbidden City, now a major tourist site in the heart of Beijing that’s formally known as the Palace Museum.  AP Technology and Science