Treasures on the global stage

Between October 2014 and January 2015 more than 100 pieces of treasure, all collected or commissioned by Chinese emperors, were on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. The US museum's collection of Faberge eggs and decorative art works, once owned by Nicholas II of Russia, were guests at the Palace Museum between April and July 2016.

The Palace Museum cites many forms of collaboration that have culminated with an exhibition. Starting from 2002, the museum linked with the World Monuments Fund in New York, a private, nonprofit international organization dedicated to preserving historic architecture and cultural heritage sites worldwide.

For the next six years the two worked together to preserve the interior decorations of a Qing Dynasty building inside the Forbidden City. The building, named Juan Qin Zhai, or Room of Respite, is in a corner of the retirement garden Emperor Qianlong built for himself in the late 18th century.

Then, in 2009, upon the completion of the Juan Qin Zhai project, the museum and the World Monuments Fund unveiled the second phase of their cooperation - this time on the protection and conservation of the entire Qianlong garden, a project due to come to fruition in 2020.

"Based on what we had accomplished together, the Palace Museum organized the exhibition The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, which toured three US Museums (the Peabody Essex Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum) between 2010 and 2011," the museum says.

Most of the time, the installation work was done by the Chinese staff.

"There are very few foreign museums with staff experienced enough to handle Chinese antiques, especially delicate ones, paintings for example," Ma says.

Qian of Art Exhibitions China believes that a comparative study can help draw audiences.