Donation enables palace renovation
By Wang Kaihao | China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-04 07:25
Former concubines' residence, once damaged by fire, due for makeover
In the 720,000-square-meter Forbidden City - the former imperial palace in the heart of Beijing officially known as the Palace Museum - there is a courtyard with a distinctively exotic appearance.
The Palace of Prolonging Happiness, or Yanxi Gong, in the east of the palace complex, was used as the concubines' residence during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It was swallowed by fire in 1845, which almost destroyed the entire courtyard, except for its front gate.
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