Palace Museum Considers Visitor Flow During Holidays
created: 2013-01-30
Xinhua, January 29, 2013
The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, is considering controlling the flow of visitors during holiday periods, the curator stated on Monday.
Options being looked into include queueing and charging for special sites inside the museum.
Shan Jixiang, the curator, said at a media briefing that the museum is also thinking of limiting the visit time for large tourists groups.
"The entrance ticket for the museum is about 50 yuan (eight dollars U.S. dollars)," said Shan, "We intended to increase this but we cannot, for fear that other tourist sites in Beijing might also raise entrance fees."
Shan said he is also considering opening the western areas of the museum to allow for more visitors. The museum plans to open 76 percent of the total area by 2020.
Fire safety equipment in more than 9,000 rooms is being updated and this will be completed by the end of the year. New fire fighting apparatus will be put into use by the end of 2014, Shan added.
Located in the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City was home to China's emperors and was the highest center of power for about 500 years.
It attracts over 14 million visitors annually.
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