Royal treat to see in Forbidden City's Cining Palace

The musical instruments used for operas performed at royal birthdays.

The Shoukang Palace, which was the residence of Empress Dowager Chongqing, the mother of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), has been restored.

The bedrooms, the rooms where she met her son and a private worship hall offer visitors a peek into her daily routine.

Chongqing lived till the age of 86 and her son, known to be a good ruler, showed great love and respect to her.

The emperor did plenty of calligraphy for his mother and held fancy birthday ceremonies for her. More than 200 items and treasures on display at the Shoukang Palace give glimpses into her daily life. They include the formal clothes she wore while meeting subjects, a rosewood closet full of exquisite jewelry and big red coral ruyi (a S-shaped ornament believed to be a symbol of good luck).

She also had a private garden as big as a football field, in which a private hall to worship the Buddha was located. There are more than 40 worship halls dedicated to the Buddha in the Forbidden City. But the one for her has more than 1,000 golden finger-sized Buddha statues.

Wen Ming, director of the religion department at the museum, says: "It's the first time that a worship hall in the Forbidden City is open to the public. In fact, many emperors' wives and concubines have worship halls in their residences. They all believed in Buddha."

Besides the worship halls, the Cining Palace has more than 500 sculptures on display, mostly large-size Buddha statues. Some of the sculptures are more than 2,200 years old. The sculptures are made of stone, wood, silver, gold and jade.

In keeping with the museum's birthday celebrations, the recently opened Meridian Gate, the biggest exhibition hall, has a birthday-themed show where items including clothes, gifts, musical instruments and food recipes of the royals are displayed.