This Day, That Year

Item from Nov 28, 1988, in China Daily: Beijing's Forbidden City - the magnificent palace home of 24 Ming and Qing Dynasty emperors-is cracking under the strain of 11 million visitors every year. ...

By year's end, 76 percent of the museum's 720,000 square meters will be open to the public, and by 2020 the figure will reach 80 percent. In 2002, only about 30 percent was accessible to visitors.

The Forbidden City is moving offices out of the core of the complex to expand the areas open to the public and allow for the display of more cultural relics.