Carvings of a number of stone lions in a long-closed off section of the Palace Museum have recently caught the imagination of Internet users, the Beijing Daily reported.

 The idiosyncratic lions are on a stone bridge east of Hall of Martial Valor (Wuyingdian) in the southwest of the Palace Museum.

The fourth lion on the bridge has become the most famous. It has one paw on the back of its head, and the other covering its crotch. The lion is said to resemble the oldest son of Emperor Daoguang from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). This bridge and many other areas will soon be open to the public with the approaching 90th birthday of the Palace Museum later this year.