It is for this reason that Yuanmingyuan became the target of Anglo-French allied forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War. It was looted for a second time by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900 and was left as rubble.

"People tend to have an attachment to Yuanmingyuan because it is a symbol of national disgrace. It has now become a national totem of patriotism," says Zhang.

Over the past 10 years, the government has invested more than 1 billion yuan ($16.34 million) to renovate the garden, discovering more than 40 pieces of cultural relics in the process.

A team led by Guo Daiheng, an architect and professor with the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, revived the 3-D images of more than 30 sites of Yuanmingyuan based on 14 years of research, costing about 40 million yuan.

The garden is now developing a 600-squaremeter experience center in Beijing to allow local audiences and travelers to take part in the interactive and digital projects, says Cao Yuming, director of the Yuanmingyuan Administration.

The exhibition toured to Berlin last year to celebrate Chinese Culture Year in Germany, as well as the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany.

It runs in Moscow from Aug 31 to Sept 20.

The exhibition is expected to go to Paris next year, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, Cao says.

TIMELINE

• 1707

The construction of Yuanmingyuan began. Emperor Kangxi gave the garden to his fourth son, the future Yongzheng emperor, as a gift.

• 1725

Emperor Yongzheng largely expanded the garden, introducing waterworks to the complex. He also named 28 scenic spots within the garden.

• 1737

Emperor Qianlong personally directed the second round of expansion, and the number of scenic spots increased to 50.

• 1860

Yuanmingyuan was looted and burned by British and French expeditionary forces during the Second Opium War. The place was set on fire, which took three days to burn down. Only 13 buildings in remote areas survived.

• 1900

Yuanmingyuan was again looted and completely destroyed by the Eight-Nation Alliance. The eight countries are Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• 1949

The garden was listed as a key culture relic protection site after the founding of New China.

• 1976

The Yuanmingyuan Administration was set up to direct the renovation of the garden.

• 1983

The garden was listed as a Relics Park and was subsidized by the Beijing municipal government to recover its original landscape.

• 1988

The garden opened to the public as a scenic spot.