As the second season of the popular Chinese TV show "New Production: Forbidden City" premiered on Friday night, the iconic Palace Museum, or the Forbidden City, returned to the spotlight. 

In the latest installment of the series, celebrities continue to explore interesting spots and relic in the ancient palace-turned museum, joining hands with experts and designers to unveil the stories and secrets behind cultural treasures and design creative cultural products.

In the first episode, Zhao Zhongnan, executive chief editor of "The Academic Journal of the Palace Museum," revealed some fascinating facts and stories about the construction of the Forbidden City, a real miracle in the world's wooden buildings.

Zhao revealed that it took over three years to build the palace, while more than 100,000 people were hired for its construction. In addition, it took more than 10 years to make necessary preparations, including transportation of wood and other materials from southern China.

Chinese hashtag which translates into "Building the Forbidden City took three and a half years" soon started trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with over 85 million views and more than 10,000 posts within 10 hours after the show was aired.

The brand new season is also experimenting with a new format, aiming to showcase some fresh perspectives of the time-honored "living museum" which served as the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming (1368 - 1644) and the Qing (1636 - 1912) dynasties.

The new season is also regarded as a gift to the world-famous historic site, to celebrate its 600th anniversary next year.

Last year, the TV series released its first season which gained overwhelming popularity. The show was rated of 8.1 out of 10 on Douban.com, a major Chinese film rating and review site.

The new season has a lot more to offer than the previous season. It will not only feature the history of the museum and the country, but also talk about the cultural exchanges between China and Western countries.

According to the museum, the second season will also introduce some of the major archaeological discoveries for the first time.

Wang Xudong, curator of the museum, said that the show presents the charm and vitality of the Palace Museum in a way that resonates with the public, making ancient culture appeal to younger audiences.