Originally the isolated political and cultural center of China, when the palaces gates were first opened to the public as the Palace Museum 90 years ago, visitors from all over the country swarmed through its halls trying to get a peek into the lives of the imperial family.
Even today the museum is a symbol of China's stern past, but even that is changing as management at the museum has been implementing changes to make the Palace Museum more welcoming to visitors: creating cute and high quality souvenirs, expanding exhibited areas, improving facilities and incorporating online and digital education.
On December 22, Shan Jixiang, the director of the Palace Museum, sat down with the Global Times to explain his grand vision for the future of the museum.
No comparison
"We were indeed relatively late in realizing there was a problem," Shan said when talking about the museum's plans to combine traditional culture and modern life.
Many top museums around the world invest enormous effort in designing souvenirs that add artistic value to their museums. For example, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, which shares the same origins as Beijing's Palace Museum, has won high praise for the mind-blowing creativeness of its souvenirs and other cultural products.
"We used to think of the Palace Museum as an organization that protects cultural relics, disseminates culture and educates the public, so we believed that cultural products that transmit knowledge and history were more suitable for us," Shan said.
"But we were inspired by other museums," Shan said, explaining that previously their products were mainly replicas of relics such as porcelains, bronze wares or paintings - all things difficult for visitors on a trip to take with them - but over time their team realized people nowadays have a demand for various types of things and hope that souvenirs can be fun, portable and practical. "This is what we are exploring."
The Palace Museum's recent line of creative products made headlines several times last year for turning things like the string of beads worn by high officials in the Qing into earphones, or taking the design found on the hats of high level ministers and printing them on umbrellas. According to Shan, more high-end and well-designed products will be released this year.
Also triggering wide discussion has been the museum's usage of modern technology such posting "time-travel" photos, which overlay antique photos over different areas of the Forbidden City, on social networks, as well as providing educational and fun iPad Apps on the Apple store.
Shan's team has also changed the way they research and design products. "We rely on several designers who are constantly racking their brains and even call up other staff members to provide ideas," explained Shan, adding that they have also started collaborating with more cultural companies, began attending expos to find creative ideas and welcome independent designers to pitch their ideas.
Shan explained that he is not afraid of comparisons to the National Palace Museum in Taiwan.
"In this respect, they started earlier than us, but we are fast catching up with them," he said.
"We can also dig much deeper into our collection. Although we share the same roots, the variety and quantity of items that went to Taiwan are limited, here we have an advantage."
This old palace
As the largest wooden building in China and a top museum in the world, trying to protecting the vast cultural heritage and relics inside the museum while welcoming a large number of visitors every day is no easy task.
On May 8, 2011, seven relics in the museum were stolen, which led to public criticism about museum security. Additionally, the wooden nature of the palace means that fire, earthquakes and storage of relics have all been huge concerns over the years.
"Security hadn't been updated in 14 years," said Shan, confessing to the problem that used to exist in the museum.
In order to surmount these problems, the Palace Museum has implemented its "Safe Museum, Secure Palace" project. Shan explained that they have set up new digital equipment and high-resolution cameras to improve security, as well as began working with different organizations such as the Seismological Bureau in order to secure the entire Forbidden City.
Another program is the "Overall renovation" program, which began in 2002 and is expected to reach completion in 2020, the Forbidden City's 600th birthday. The plan calls for the repair and protection of a majority of the structures within the palace.
Other renovations include improving the visitor environment by including more modern facilities and shutting down the excessive amount of low quality restaurants and food stands. Staff offices have also been relocated outside the museum's red walls in order to provide more breathing room for visitors.
Modern makeover
"The most upsetting thing for me is the rising number of visitors," Shan confessed. The museum received 150 million visitors last year and he projects that number will continue to rise over the next two years. Currently, daily visitors peak at around 180 thousand during the high season which makes it difficult to ensure visitor comfort and poses a danger to relics as well.
He recalled that he once tried to control daily visits at 80,000 by stopping ticket sales, but that attempt failed when a large amount of visitors kept knocking and shouting at the museum's windows.
In the end the police were needed to calm things down and the museum relented.
The museum is currently offering free visit days to people from different professions in an attempt to encourage people to come during off season. Shan is also considering lowing ticket prices during this season in hopes of spreading out the number of visitors throughout the year.
"Our desire is to safely hand the palace over to the next 600 years," Shan said.
Source: Global Times by Li Jingjing
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