Yuanmingyuan team works hard to repair the past

The floor of an office in Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park is full of broken porcelain pieces that are all lined up. The scene is not an contemporary art installation - the categorized pieces are just waiting for cultural-heritage restorers to find their long-lost brothers.

First built in 1707, Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, which was the former imperial resort of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in northwestern Beijing, was a cultural splendor.

It is often referred to as "the garden of gardens" for its lush landscapes and numerous temples, palaces and pavilions. It covered a 350-hectare area, about five times that of the Forbidden City.