Treasures of two palaces on show

The Hong Kong Palace Museum's newest exhibition, The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles: China-France Cultural Encounters in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, opens on December 18.

The five-month showcase explores the history of mutual admiration, inspiration, and exchanges between the courts of China and France during the latter half of the 17th and throughout the 18th centuries.

Visitors can take in a dazzling array of nearly 150 magnificent treasures from the Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles including royal portraits, exquisite porcelains, glassware, enamelware, textiles, books and scientific instruments.

Among them are nine first-grade Chinese national treasures from the Palace Museum, alongside recent acquisitions from the collection of the Palace of Versailles, many of which will be displayed in Hong Kong for the first time.

Visitors can also travel back to the era of the Kangxi Emperor and Louis XIV via dynamic talks and innovative family workshops that combine interactive theater with art-making activities.