Zazie Hoko
The Palace Museum should not be open for free in a short time. Because for such a huge museum of historical relics, the daily repair and maintenance costs are a huge expense, and the Forbidden City, as the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, has a decisive historical position.
Looking back on the Qingming holiday in 2020, the result of the free opening of Huangshan Scenic Area was the news that "thousands of people crowded together", "tourists crowded Huangshan Mountain" and "one kilometer of road was blocked for two hours". The free and open travel experience was not pleasant. Even on the first holiday after the "grounding", free is an important factor in the explosion of Huangshan tourists.
In the past, when there were up to 80 thousand people in the Forbidden City, it was hard to get a ticket. If free opening is implemented again, I'm afraid the Wumen Gate Tower will be crowded!
1. Why should we visit the Forbidden City?
(a) China ancient Ming and Qing royal palace.
The Forbidden City, formerly known as the Forbidden City, was the place where emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties worked and lived. Also known as "the most luxurious deep house compound in the world". Located on the central axis of Beijing, it has become one of the must-see attractions in Beijing, regardless of geographical location or history and culture.
(2) The largest existing wooden structure in the world.
The Forbidden City in Beijing, together with Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in Britain, the White House in the United States and the Kremlin in Russia, ranks first among the five largest palaces in the world. The Forbidden City, also known as the largest and best-preserved wooden structure complex in the world. As descendants, we are naturally curious and respectful of the wisdom and craftsmanship of the ancients, hoping to visit them at close range.
(C) Many archetypal sites of film and television dramas in Qing Dynasty
Although the Forbidden City has always been displayed to the world in the form of a museum, it is more like a stepping encyclopedia of history, taking the audience to complete adventures again and again. Moreover, whenever there is a new hit of the Qing Palace drama, many viewers will come to the Palace Museum to punch in.
Second, suppose the Forbidden City is open for free.
(A) Square into a park
As we all know, the most open place in the Forbidden City should be the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Imagine, if the Forbidden City is open for free, will it become a paradise for square dance?
(two) the transformation of ancient buildings into leisure places.
The Forbidden City covers an area of 720,000 square meters, with a construction area of about 6.5438+0.5 million square meters. There are countless palaces of all sizes. At present, less than half of the palaces are open to the public. If the Palace Museum implements the free ticket system, will anyone visit the Palace Museum?
(3) Where are the cultural relics going?
The Palace Museum has 6.5438+0.86 million cultural relics. At present, there are about 400 cultural relics on display in the Treasure Hall, most of which are still stored in the warehouse. If the Palace Museum is visited for free, most of the cultural relics may be kept in the warehouse forever. After all, the national treasure is too heavy to lose!
Zazie Hoko
3. Why does the Forbidden City charge tickets?
Self-sufficiency, reducing national pressure
The Palace Museum is a non-profit organization. Even with state funding, facing the huge ancient cultural relics group, the annual cost of repair, repair and restoration is not small. The collection of tickets for the Palace Museum and the sale of items related to cultural creation have also become one of the sources of the Palace Museum's self-sufficiency. At present, the collection of cultural relics in the Palace Museum is nearly 6.5438+0.86 million, most of which belong to the old collection of the Qing Palace. However, due to the elutriation of time, many cultural relics are not on display. If there is no reasonable professional repair, it may be hidden in the warehouse forever.
We once saw a "red reeling dragon python" in Shangxin Palace during the Qianlong period. This "official costume" is made by reeling technology, which is also rare in the costumes of Qing Dynasty operas. But after years of wear and tear, it was not properly preserved, and a hole was formed in the center of the clothes. To repair this hole, which is less than 10 cm, it takes staff to work around the clock for nearly a year, and the cost of carving is more than 600,000 yuan, because reeling itself is a very expensive process.
(2) The number of tourists has exploded. What about the Forbidden City?
Dan Jixiang, the former director of the Palace Museum, once said in a report that in 2002, the audience of the Palace Museum had reached 7 million. In just ten years, by 20 12 years, the number of visitors to the Palace Museum has exceeded150,000. Let every audience visit the Forbidden City with more dignity, instead of seeing the ground, only seeing the back of the head of the audience in front.
It is not only the protection of tourists, but also the respect for cultural relics to reasonably control the number of tourists and implement current-limiting measures for tourists to achieve peak cutting and valley filling throughout the year. The online real-name registration system ticketing system can also control the number of tourists who enter the Forbidden City every day.
(3) Adding facilities in the open area of the Forbidden City
If you have been to the Forbidden City more than 10 years ago, you will find that there are no rows of rest seats, no littering bins and no places for tourists to eat and rest.
Now I have visited the Forbidden City again. Tired, there will be a seat to rest not far away, so you don't have to sit on the steps. You can find readily available garbage not far away; When you are tired and hungry, there are some places where you can simply fill your stomach. These changes are due to the continuous improvement and self-sufficiency of the Forbidden City, in order to give the audience a better visit experience.
Zazie Hoko
Conclusion:
60 yuan in the peak season, 40 yuan in the off-season, 300 yuan in the whole year, and 30 yuan once on average. Compared with other scenic spots in Beijing, this price is quite close to the people. The free opening of many museums does not happen overnight, and many museums have gradually changed to free opening after many years.
The Forbidden City is different from other museums. The Forbidden City itself is a cultural relic. Rather than visiting, we entered a cultural relic and learned about its past lives.
After all, some friends don't value free things! If one day, our country's financial resources can fully support the huge cost of maintenance of many cultural relics in the Palace Museum. Moreover, people can protect cultural relics for themselves after entering for free. Maybe it is imperative to open the Forbidden City for free!
Zazie Hoko
The above is the relevant answer provided by @ Yang Yige. For more information about the Forbidden City, welcome to chat!