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Free admissions bring high costs to local museums
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-21 18:54 How are local museums coping? They use many tactics to reduce the security pressure and make their exhibitions attractive. Some limit admissions by issuing only a certain number of tickets, or by requiring visitors to make online or telephone reservations. Others share or exchange exhibits so that no single museum gets too many visitors. For example, on September 25, provincial museums in neighboring Fujian and Zhejiang held a joint exhibit by exchanging the contents of the show. Both said they intend to continue this practice. The public, however, is mostly unaware of museums' financial plight. They're just happy to see the shows for free. "We are glad to see taxpayers' money being spent to promote people's cultural awareness," said retired teacher Wang Shurong, who visited an art exhibit in downtown Beijing with her husband on Friday. "Free entry would certainly encourage people to frequent such places and sooner or later, they'll have the awareness to respect museum facilities and teach their children to do so," she said. No encouragement is needed for veteran Zhang. He plans to make a third visit to get a better look at the Beijing military museum's gun exhibits. |
