Palace Museum to limit daily visits & launch real-name ticket policy

BEIJING – The Palace Museum in Beijing will launch a pilot scheme to limit the daily visitors' number by 80,000 on June 13, according to the museum's announcement Sunday.

北京故宫博物院本周日宣布，故宫将于6月3日试行新计划，每日限定接待游客8万人次。

The Palace Museum will also impose a real-name registration system for tickets buying at the same time. All the group tour ticket booking will be carried out online, and the traditional site-ticket purchase booths will be canceled.

故宫博物院还将同时启用实名制购票系统，所有团体票均需上网预订，景区售票窗口将不再售卖团体票。

Visitor number control is a must to protect the security of both the cultural relics and tourists, said Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum.

故宫博物院院长单霁翔说，控制游客数量是保护文物和游客安全的必要措施。

As a renowned world cultural heritage with a history extending 600 years, the Palace Museum received more than 10 million visitors annually in recent years.

故宫博物院作为一个拥有600多年历史的世界著名文化遗产，近年每年接待的游客数量均超过1000万人次。

Statistics shows during the last three years, the museum's annual average visitor number have exceeded 15 million, way more than its counterpart such as the Louvre and the British Museum, Shan said.

单霁翔说，相关统计数据显示，，故宫博物院过去三年的年均参观人数已突破1500万人次，远超卢浮宫、大英博物馆等博物馆的（参观人数）。

Traveller's enthusiasm has caused great pressure to our service standard and safety control, Shan said.

单霁翔说，游客的热情已经对我们的服务质量和安全控制造成了很大的压力。

He revealed that the museum is currently updating the ticket reservation system, so as to make it more convenient to book tickets and can guide the visitors to avoid their travelling during peak seasons.

他透露，故宫博物院目前正在升级门票预订系统，以使订票更便捷，也能引导游客避开高峰期到故宫博物院进行参观。