Many dates with history

Wang Jin has been repairing antique timepieces at Beijing's Palace Museum for decades, in a job that keeps him close to some of the world's most unique collections. Wang Kaihao reports.

Perhaps, what 55-year-old Wang Jin deals with everyday are the liveliest exhibits housed in the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.

Since the reign of Qianlong (1735-95), many made-in-Europe clocks (most of which came from the United Kingdom), were donated or ordered by China's royal families, whose interest in these exotic machines lasted until the final days of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).