The Palace Museum and the World Monuments Fund are launching a multimillion-dollar project to conserve the Qianlong Garden in Beijing's Forbidden City. The project, an expansion of the two organizations' five-year partnership, is expected to take 10 years and cost between $15 million and $18 million. The garden, built during the reign of Qing Emperor Qianlong in the 1700s, is one of the largest areas in the Forbidden City to remain relatively untouched since imperial times. The World Monuments Fund says this is the most comprehensive project it has yet undertaken. After work is completed in 2016, visitors will be able to see both interiors and the emperor's private garden.
