The work is highly technical, taking place in a setting that resembles a laboratory rather than a museum. A fragment of a glazed roof tile from Beijing’s Forbidden City undergoes analysis in a cutting-edge X-ray diffraction machine, which generates images that are then displayed on computer screens.

The fragment being examined has a darkened area on its surface, which restorers seek to identify. Their goal is to enhance the preservation of artifacts in the vast imperial palace, which served as the residence of China’s emperors and the centre of power for centuries.

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“We want to determine what the black substance is,” said Kang Baoqiang, one of the restorers at the site, now a museum drawing visitors from around the globe. “Whether it originates from atmospheric sediment or is the result of significant internal changes.”

A team of approximately 150 workers blends scientific analysis with traditional methods to clean, repair, and restore the museum’s collection of over 1.8 million relics.

The collection includes scroll paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, ceramics, and, somewhat unexpectedly, elaborate antique clocks presented to emperors by early European visitors.

In a room down the corridor from the X-ray facility, two restorers meticulously patch holes in a panel of patterned green silk featuring the Chinese character for “longevity,” carefully applying colour in a technique known as “inpainting.”

This piece is believed to have been a birthday gift for Empress Dowager Cixi, the influential figure behind the throne in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Much of the restoration work is painstaking and repetitive, often taking months to complete.

“I don’t have grand ambitions about protecting traditional cultural heritage, as some people say,” remarked Wang Nan, one of the restorers. “I simply find satisfaction in the sense of accomplishment when an antique piece is restored.”

Now a major tourist attraction in central Beijing, the Forbidden City was named by foreigners during imperial times because access was largely restricted. Officially, it is known as the Palace Museum.

During World War II, many of its treasures were swiftly removed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the invading Japanese army. Later, during the civil war that led to the Communist Party’s rise to power in 1949, the defeated Nationalists transported many of the most valuable items to Taiwan, where they are now housed in the National Palace Museum.

Since then, Beijing’s Palace Museum has rebuilt its collection.

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Restoration techniques have also progressed, noted Qu Feng, head of the museum’s Conservation Department, though traditional methods remain the foundation of their work.

“When we restore an antique, we safeguard the cultural values it embodies,” Qu said. “And that is our ultimate objective.”