[File photo]

Cining Gong garden

Open from Oct 11

Cining Gong (Palace of Benevolent Peace) in the western part of the Palace Museum used to be home to the emperors' mothers.

Now it has been converted into a sculpture pavilion that displays more than 400 sculpture relics, spanning from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). A large stone Buddhist statue and a Bodhisattva statue from the Northern Qi Dynasty (AD 550-577) and a 6th Banchan Lama statue from the Qing Dynasty are highlights of the exhibition.

In the east yard of the Cining Gong garden, visitors can walk on a glass plank and see the Ming Dynasty Forbidden City under their feet. The archaeological site here is open to the public while excavation is ongoing. Archeologists have unearthed many remains from the Ming and Qing dynasties here.