The first Western film made in and about the country to be produced with full Chinese government cooperation since 1949.
During filming of the immense coronation scene in the Forbidden City, Queen Elizabeth II was in Beijing on a state visit. The production was given priority over her by the Chinese authorities and she was therefore unable to visit the Forbidden City.
19,000 extras were needed over the course of the film.
Over 1,000 schoolchildren were brought in to play Red Guards in the 1967 Cultural Revolution march. Bernardo Bertolucci had problems instilling the right amount of anger in them, as none of them knew of the attitudes of the Cultural Revolution.
In real life, when Puyi met Empress Cixi, he screamed in terror. He later described seeing an eerie yellow curtain with an ugly thin face behind it. She was displeased, and had one of her servants offer him candy. When he screamed even louder, she had him taken away. She died the next day.