4.The Returned Treasures

On September 21st, 2007, The Macao gaming tycoon bought a rare bronze horse head plundered by British and French troops in the 19th century for HK$69.1 million ($8.84 million) and donated it back to the motherland.

The deal stopped the national treasure looted from the Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace) from being auctioned at Sotheby’s autumn auction in October that year.

Returned Stone Fish

A century and a half ago, the Yuanmingyuan was at the height of its glory. These stone sculptures decorated numerous fountains, pavilions and corridors.

However, when they were rediscovered many years later in unlikely places, few could imagine where they actually belonged.

Zong Tianliang, asst. manager of Old Summer Palace Bureau, said, "In 2006, one of our staff saw two stone fish in an old courtyard home. They somehow struck him as quite familiar. So he went back and looked into the archives. And there they are, in a photo taken by a French photographer before the palace was burned to the ground. The photo offers concrete proof as to the origin of the two stone fish."

On June 8, 2007, the fish were among a dozen items brought back home to Yuanmingyuan.

For people familiar with the history, this was an emotionally-charged moment. The long-overdue return has stirred up memories that forever haunt the imperial garden.

The pair of silver knockers of Yuanmingyuan

A pair of knockers from Yuanmingyuan, which was sacked and destroyed in 1860 by British and French forces, were auctioned here on December 9, 2007.

The knockers, made of silver, were knocked down by Beijing Rongbao Auction Ltd. at the price of 1.9 million yuan (256,441 U.S. dollars) with a 228,000-yuan commission.

Experts said the knockers were rare, since they were built by the royal family in the 1700s in the design of a taotei, a mythical ferocious animal, popular during the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC-771 BC).

They are believed to have been made specially for Yuanmingyuan.

Editor: Feng Hui