Nearly 150 artifacts sourced from Beijing’s Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles in France will be displayed in Hong Kong from Wednesday, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a China-France cultural exchange of 17th century-18th century pieces.

Running until May 4, 2025, the exhibition, to be hosted at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, is set to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations this year, which is also the China-France Cultural Tourism Year.

Titled “The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles: China-France Cultural Encounters in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries”, the showcase will feature nearly 150 artifacts sourced from the two former royal palaces and now world-renowned cultural heritage sites.

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Notably, the collection includes nine of China’s Grade-1 national treasures alongside prized items from Versailles, some of which are recent acquisitions.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Hong Kong Palace Museum, the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Palace of Versailles. The organizers said the exhibition seeks to illuminate the deep appreciation, inspiration, and exchanges that flourished between the Chinese and French courts in various fields, including culture, art and science, during the late 17th and 18th centuries.

Louis Ng Chi-wa, museum director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, said that it is the first time in Hong Kong that treasures from the two palaces have been showcased side by side in an exhibition, making it a must-see exhibition.

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Director of the National Museum of the Palace of Versailles Laurent Salome said the collections from the Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles seem to complement each other.

“I think the display of the exhibition is so clever, so clear, and it expresses really a human history that has been going on for centuries,” he said.

The exhibition is made possible through funding from the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund, part of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

Among the sponsors are Cathay Pacific, the Tigillus Foundation, and Centurion from American Express.

Contact the writer at lilei@chinadailyhk.com