Old Summer Palace reclaims its past

More than 80,000 historical artifacts, along with pieces of the Old Summer Palace, were unearthed as a result of the demolition of surrounding buildings.

The objects, including building materials such as tiger-skin jade, bricks and stones from ruined palace walls, have been reclaimed by the palace administration office and are on public display along the north and south walls of the palace.

The palace - also known as Yuanmingyuan - was renowned as the Garden of Gardens during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was ransacked and largely torn down by British and French expeditionary forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.