Forbidden City, Topkapı Palace to form cultural bridge between Türkiye and China

ISTANBUL

China and Türkiye are preparing to take steps toward a major cultural collaboration by linking two of the world’s most iconic palace museums — Beijing’s Forbidden City and Istanbul’s Topkapı palace — in a move to strengthen cultural ties between the two nations through mutual exhibitions that bring together treasures from both imperial legacies.

A Chinese delegation headed by Xudong Wang, the head of the Palace Museum (known as the Forbidden City Museum), is expected to attend the International National Palaces Conference to be held in Istanbul on Nov. 24.

During the conference, the delegation will propose an exchange of select artifacts from the Forbidden City and Topkapı Palace collections to be displayed in both countries.

The project seeks to foster cross-cultural understanding and boost tourism between China and Türkiye by spotlighting their shared appreciation of art, craftsmanship and heritage.

A group of Turkish journalists recently visited the Forbidden City at the invitation of the Chinese Embassy. The visit offered a glimpse into the historical grandeur of the palace and the cultural project now in discussion.

Guangyao Wang, a senior expert at the Palace Museum’s artifacts department, explained that the idea represents a bridge connecting the eastern and western ends of Asia.

“We’ve even imagined the exhibition’s name: ‘The East and West Ends of Asia.’ Our dream is to display part of Topkapı’s Chinese and Ming Dynasty porcelain collections at the Forbidden City in a joint exhibition that celebrates the artistic dialogue between our civilizations.”

According to Guangyao Wang, China’s interest extends beyond Topkapı’s porcelain treasures. “Türkiye has an ancient and diverse history. We would love to host collections from other periods as well.”

He recalled a previous exhibition that brough over 260 artifacts from Iran to Beijing and drew huge crowds, sparking a surge of Chinese tourism to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

“Chinese people are deeply curious about foreign cultures,” he added, noting that Topkapı Palace already attracts long queues of Chinese visitors each year.

With nearly 10 million annual visitors, the Forbidden City remains one of the world’s most visited museums. Once home to 24 emperors across nearly six centuries, the former imperial palace became a museum in 1925 and joined UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1987.

It houses about 1.9 million cultural relics and is celebrated as the largest surviving wooden architectural complex from the ancient world.

Guangyao Wang also highlighted that Türkiye’s Ambassador to Beijing, Selçuk Ünal, recently met with the Palace Museum head to discuss cooperation on the protection of cultural heritage and the prevention of illicit trafficking.

“Both sides share the same view. We are always open to collaboration in preventing the unlawful transfer of cultural property,” he stated.