Secret garden of Beijing's Forbidden City revealed

When the last emperor of China fled Beijing's Forbidden City in 1924, the doors closed on one of its greatest treasures: the Qianlong Garden.

A secluded compound of pavilions and gardens built in the 1770s for the retirement of the Qianlong Emperor, it housed some of the most extravagant interiors found anywhere in the imperial palace complex.

As other areas were opened up to tourists, the garden remained mothballed for almost 100 years, its exquisite design and decorative treasures staying relatively unaltered since the 18th century.

Now some of those treasures are finally seeing the light of day at an exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin from June 11, while the gardens undergo a $25 million restoration....