Chinese emperor's apartments go on display at the Acropolis Museum in Athens

The private apartments of 18th-century Emperor Qianlong, one of the most renowned rulers in Chinese history, went on display in Athens Friday in a rare exhibition, organisers said. The exhibition at the Acropolis Museum showcases over 150 works of art, ceremonial robes and furniture from the Qing emperor’s private apartments in the Palace of Many Splendors at Beijing’s Forbidden City, where he spent his youth as a prince, and wrote poetry. These include Qianlong’s heated bed, his study, ritual dress, poetic texts, thrones, and theatrical costumes from private performances at the palace. “It is the largest Chinese exhibition ever hosted in Greece,” Acropolis museum director Dimitris Pantermalis said this week, adding that Qianlong’s rooms have never been displayed outside China.