LensToLens | Forbidden City and Palace of Versailles: witnessing Sino-French cultural exchanges

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition jointly held by the Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles, focusing on the exchanges between China and France in the 17th and 18th centuries, kicked off on April 1 in Beijing.

The exhibition, themed "The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles," is a key project in the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism in 2024, which marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France.

The second half of the 17th century and the 18th century are regarded as a golden age for exchanges between the Chinese and French courts and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The exhibition features about 200 works from the collections of the two museums and other institutions to highlight the political and cultural relationship between China and France during the period.

The exhibition is open to the public until June 30.

To make the exhibition possible, more than 70 artworks at the Palace of Versailles were carefully packaged and shipped to Beijing.

Located in the heart of Beijing, the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, was home to 24 Chinese emperors and was the pinnacle of power from 1420 to 1911. More than 1.8 million cultural relics have been registered in the museum's collection.

Located in the south-west of Paris, the Palace of Versailles was the principal residence of the French kings from the time of Louis XIV to that of Louis XVI. The Palace of Versailles is one of the most popular historical sites for tourists in France, and is famous for its building and garden design, as well as the representation of French cultural and royal history. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

The Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles have witnessed the history of the two countries for hundreds of years.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France in 1964, the two museums have witnessed unforgettable moments of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, serving a bond of mutual learning and in-depth exchanges between the two countries.