Forbidden City puts more of its history on display
Print Edition
Beijing’s Palace Museum, also know as the Forbidden City, opened four new sections yesterday, making 65 percent of the complex accessible to the public.
New attractions at what was the imperial palace in China’s Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, include royal palaces and a Buddhist worship hall.
The museum, which recently imposed a daily limit of 80,000 visitors as a security measure, will also reduce numbers at the new attractions.
Shoukang Palace, in the Cining Palace section, where the mother of the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) lived for 42 years, will allow just 50 visitors at any one time, the museum said.
The 50-visitor limit will also apply to Cining Palace itself, where ancient sculptures are on display, while visitors will not be allowed inside Xianruo Hall, the first Tibetan Buddhist worship hall, but can view it from outside. The Yanchi Building near the Meridian Gate will exhibit a 39.39-meter painting of the Kangxi Emperor (1654-1722) hosting his birthday party, with visitors restricted to 300 at any one time.
The Donghua Gate, where the museum’s architectural art is on display, has a 200-visitor limit while visitors will have to book to enter the Baoyun Building, a former storehouse for relics which now displays the early history of the museum.
Shan Jixiang, the museum’s curator, told the Legal Evening News the museum plans to leave just one ticket office open for visitors unable to buy tickets online.
“We’re also considering allowing in different numbers of visitors at different times of a day. For example, 30,000 visitors from 8:30 to 10:30am, 20,000 visitors from 10:30am to 12:30pm and 15,000 visitors from 12:30 to 2:30pm and from 2:30 to 4pm,” he said.
In 2014, more than 15.25 million people visited the museum and since January 1 last year, it has closed its doors every Monday for renovation and maintenance work.
On Saturday, the former imperial palace celebrated 90 years as a public museum.
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