Beijing's Forbidden City gets massive facelift
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-09-20 06:42

The vast palace was called "forbidden" because commoners, except courtiers, could not enter the complex without special permission during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Today it is open to all.

Seven million to eight million visitors flock to the palace each year.

As part of the protection plan, the museum administration will spend seven years on clearing up the collections of cultural and art relics in the palace, and sorting out all relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties that have not been written into the inventory, Zheng said at a workshop held in Beijing last week to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the Palace Museum.

Other participants in the workshop included curators of the British Museum, the Tokyo National Museum, the Smithsonian Institution and the Dresden State Art Collections.

How to survive and how to develop in the fast growing world were the major topics for the curators. After the workshop four curators got donations from Chan Lai Wa, curator of China Red Sandalwood Museum in Beijing, who donated four of her most precious red sandalwood works to the four museums.

They are replicas of the Temple of Heaven, for the Palace Museum, at a scale of 1:15, the Wanchun Pavilion at a scale of 1:5 for the Smithsonian Institution of the United States, the Corner Tower for the British Museum at a scale of 1:5, and the Flying Cloud Building at a scale of 1:10 for the Dresden State Art Collections.

"I feel so honoured to have the world famous museums accept my art works," said Chan at the donation ceremony held at the China Red Sandalwood Museum.

"I hope that more and more people will learn about red sandalwood carvings and enjoy the brilliance of Chinese traditional culture," she said.

Close

Primetime Emmy Awards 100th birthday of movie star Greta Garbo Kidman named richest young Aussie star

Today's Top News     Top Life News
PBOC: Economy too much export-driven         N. Korea to abandon nuke weapon efforts         Boeing sees China buying 2,600 jets         UN warned on abuse of intervention right         White House invites China for G-7 talks         172 affected in Fujian cholera outbreak	An 'efficient' way for wealthy Mr. Right hunting       Ultra subsidy for high-ranking Chinese officials       Forget Mickey, Monkey King is the way for Shanghai       Population-control abuses in Shandong confirmed       Water diversion to preserve ancient ruins       Liu Xiang joins Yao Ming as Shanghai image ambassador