Palatial groundings

Beijing's Palace Museum's summer-intern program is proving a draw for students from southern China, who have an interest in cultural conservations.

Not every college intern has the good fortune to bypass a mundane clerical job to make a former imperial palace their "office". But for 24-year-old Kong Ka-ian from Macao, the prospect of spending the summer in Beijing's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, was certainly enviable.

Barely visible to passing tourists, an enclosed courtyard deep in the palace is where she gets to spend her time cleaning nearly 250-year-old paintings on the beams of a pavilion.

"I am able to experience every step of the process," Kong says with excitement. "It is like a dream come true."

Built in 1772, the Xiefang Ting ("pavilion taking blossom") in the garden of the Palace of Tranquility and Longevity was Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperor Qianlong's personal retreat after his retirement.

The garden is also one of the most private places in the Palace Museum complex and has never been open to the public. Renovation work will continue until 2020, when the garden will open to visitors to mark the 600th anniversary of the Forbidden City.

The chirping of cicadas, scorching heat and swarms of mosquitoes may be an annoyance, but it's easy to ignore the uncomfortable conditions in the courtyard and instead feel joy.

Kong first visited the Palace Museum as a tourist two years ago. And as a graduate student at the University of Melbourne majoring in the conservation of cultural materials, Kong had long been looking forward to her return.

"It has been a well-kept secret for some time as to what kind of materials were used in the renovation of the Forbidden City, and it has always remained something of a mystery to me," she says. "So, it's great to finally see them unveiled now."

The foundations of the columns in the Xiefang Ting were rotten and had to be repaired. However, experts in ancient architecture worried that the paintings adorning the beams would simply crumble if the columns were moved.

Consequently, the paintings had to be consolidated first.

"I really admire the detailed division of labor and the in-depth planning that takes place before any restoration work begins," Kong says. "People cooperate very closely."

Kong is one of three students staying with the ancient architecture department this summer as part of their internship program.

The ongoing six-week program includes 48 college students from Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Guangdong province - 16 from each place - and runs until Aug 25.

"It's worthwhile to be able to communicate with students from different places and nurture a diverse range of ideas," Kong says. She had previously taken an internship on architecture renovation at the ruins of St Paul's in Macao, another UNESCO World Heritage site.