（antique clock conservator）
Qi Haonan is one of the fourth generation of specialists in repairing and restoring antique clocks. The clock repairing techniques at the Palace Museum were listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2014.
（a gilt copper clock with automated
glass rods simulating waterfalls）
（a pair of antique pagoda clocks）
After a year of complex restoration, specialists from the Palace Museum in Beijing have given a pair of antique pagoda clock automata a new lease on life.
In the form of a nine-tiered pagoda, the clocks, housed in the Summer Palace in Beijing, not only tell the time, but also put on an automated spectacle every three hours and play four different tunes, including Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower, which was composed during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
"At the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, the pagoda will raise with the melody from about 1.28 meters to 1.58 meters, and at 6 and 12, it will lower," watchmaker Qi Haonan explains.
"One clock of the pair has been restored to full working order and is on display at A Story of Garden exhibition in the Summer Palace Museum, while the other will meet the audience early next year," the 41-year-old conservator says.
who celebrates birthdays）
麒麟驮书（a unicorn-like creature
carrying books on its back）
亓昊楠希望促进与钟表的产地国交流。图源：中国日报网
"During the restoration of the clocks, we can find clues to the cultural communication between the East and the West," he says.
According to Qi, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France were three major sources of imported clocks.
"I hope there will be more collaboration and communication with master watchmakers in these countries to revive the spirit and historical memory of antique timepieces," Qi says.
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