Tourists to see more of Forbidden City

The second phase of the Forbidden City repair project begins next week. CFP Photo

By Chu Meng

The top Beijing tourist destination, the Forbidden City, will begin its largest renovation yet on September 1. When the five-year overhaul is completed, 40 percent more of its total area will be open to the public, Shan Jixiang, chief of State Bureau of Cultural Relics, said last Friday.

Shan said that at present, only 30 percent of the Forbidden City’s total area is opened to visitors, and less than one-fourth of its 9,900 rooms have been restored for tourism.

“Because of our limited restoration ability and less developed techniques for salvaging cultural relics early last century, only the area along the axis of the Forbidden City was renovated and opened. Most of the west and east areas are still closed to the public,” Shan said.

The years of abandonment have severely damaged many of the other buildings. “It has been a great loss for both the relics themselves and for the public. People should have a chance to appreciate one of the nation’s most brilliant sites of cultural heritage,” he said.

Li Yongge, director of the ancient building section of the Palace Museum, said most of the ancient craft techniques required to repair the rest of the Forbidden City were neither discovered nor mastered until fairly recently.

The admission fee is expected to remain the same, which means tourists will eventually be able to visit 40 percent more of the Forbidden City for the same price.

Shan said the capacity of the Forbidden City is 30,000 visitors per day, but that the number of visitors always far exceeds that capacity. On some days, the number of tourists reaches 130,000.

That many visitors being locked into one centralized exhibition area has put a strain on the historical site. The expansion will help to spread out their visits, reducing damage to the Forbidden City.

The project is part of a 20-year general overhaul that started in October 17, 2002 and will finish by 2020.

The first stage of the repair project was completed ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. The effort is currently in its second stage.