According to Zhang, the amount of compensation for institutions at the provincial level would vary by location. Those in eastern provinces, where local economies were stronger, would get 20 percent subsidies, with 60 percent funding for those in central provinces and 80 percent for the western provinces. He didn't say which provinces were in which category.

The circular has been warmly acclaimed by the culture-thirsty Chinese audience. Thousands of visitors flocked into local museums that pilot the free-admission experiment, enjoying free culture trips.

Many museum managers have foreseen a sharp surge of visitors with free entry. In Tianjin Museum in North China, 19 ticket windows were opened to give free tickets to visitors. The museum newly opened a leisure space, and added an automated cloakroom and more chairs.

Huang Chen, a publicity official with the National Museum of China said that with free admission, the management cost of a museum would rise sharply as museums have to develop their ability to manage flocks of visitors.

"The ticket income of the National Museum was about 10 million yuan a year. Although the central government has promised to cover the loss after free admission, the museum would still have to face financial difficulties in the increased costs of water, electricity, security, publicity and facility maintenance with the swelling number of visitors," he said.

However, the Ministry of Culture has urged that "the free entry of museums and memorial halls must be guaranteed and should in no way be hampered by fund shortages."

A netizen who called himself Changping said on his popular blog that the heavy inflow of visitors to museums would gradually disappear, after people realize that free admission to museums is not a temporary experiment. There is no need to rush.

"Museums are public resources, just like urban greenery and public squares. The central government's decision on free admission to public museums is not just to save people's culture expenditure, but to make things fairer," he said.

Wang Hongqing, director of the Hubei Provincial Museum in Central China said that free admission will continue despite worries questioning the museum's ability to protect its rich collection of relics.

"After all, the museum's collection is for the public to appreciate, the more (visitors) the better. The free admission challenges our service ability," he said.

The museum plans to ask the public for solutions to the disorder and rude behavior.