ROYAL CHARM

A new Chinese TV variety show is the first of its kind to be shot inside the Forbidden City, Wang Kaihao reports.

People may marvel at the magnificent scenarios of ancient palatial constructions in the 1987 Oscar-winning film The Last Emperor.

Few filmmakers today are as lucky as Bernardo Bertolucci to be allowed to shoot the scenes of the Forbidden City in Beijing within the red walls of the actual palace. Instead, they have to rely on replicas in film studios.