The Palace Museum is one of the must-see places in Beijing. It covers about 720, 000 square meters with millions of cultural relics inside its walls. However, the museum can only show a small part of its relics to the public. Experts can't fix as many cultural relics as they want. And more importantly, the museum can't provide a proper service if the number of visitors goes over 80, 000 every day. Why? Because there is not enough room inside the museum!
For nearly ten years, the Palace Museum has planned on its new building—a second home for the cultural relics, a second office for the experts and a second museum for people to visit. More than thirty kilometers away from the Palace Museum, the new museum, also called the north area of the Palace Museum, will include places for the display, restoration and storage of the cultural relics. It covers over 100, 000 square meters. Experts can work better and more visitors can see the relics.
Although the new museum looks like a traditional Chinese building and has similar colors to the Palace Museum, it is modern and environmentally friendly. For example, it can save a lot of energy: The walls on the south side can let in a lot of air during the summer and keep it cool; during the winter, the walls on the north side can keep the cold air out and help the building stay warm.
The construction of the new Palace Museum started in December, 2022, and it may be open to the public in 2025. The Palace Museum will be 100 years old then. The new museum will surely be a great birthday gift for it.
The Palace Museum | The new Palace Museum |
◆ Size: | ◆Name: |
about 720, 000 square meters | The of the Palace |
◆Collections: | ◆ Size: |
has millions of cultural relics | over 100, 000 square meters |
◆History: | ◆ Use: |
will be open for by 2025 | for the display, restoration and storage of the cultural relics |
◆ Look: | |
similar to the Palace Museum modern and | |
History: | |
started in December 2022 may be open to the public in 2025 |
