The Chinese government plans to open more museums to the public for free in order to improve cultural services. The Beijing Planetarium, Dajue Temple and the Imperial College are among the first batch of museums to stop charging for admission this year. All national museums and provincial comprehensive museums will stop charging entry fees this year. And museums listed as national patriotism education bases will also stop charging. This is a joint circular issued by the CPCCC's Publicity Department, the ministries of finance and culture, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage last Wednesday. All museums, memorial halls and national patriotism education bases will be free to visit by 2009. The exceptions are cultural relics and historical sites, which will have discounts for minors, the elderly, soldiers, the disabled and low-income families. For special exhibitions, museums and memorial halls will still be allowed to charge entry fees. But they're encouraged to offer discounts for regular visitors and flexible plans for groups and families. Beijing's Palace Museum,or the Forbidden City, is listed as a protected architectural and cultural site. It will still charge admission fees in the short run. The National Museum, currently under construction at a new site, and the well-curated Capital Museum will continue to offer discounts to groups. The Capital Museum, a multimillion dollar project of Beijing's Municipal Government, has been considering lowering entry rates long before this government circular. But curator Guo Xiaoling says the entry fee is necessary right now to control its crowds. Curator Guo Xiaoling, said, "This is indeed good policy if the government can shoulder part of the cost. For comprehensive museums where traffic flow is huge, the entry rates should be lowered gradually. Gradual change is a good practice we've learn from the Reform and Opening up policy. We'd better do it step by step and not rush into any abrupt end. " Free entry is currently available to museums above the county level in some provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region. Other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities are encouraged to cut or get rid of entry fees as they see fit. China is home to more than 2,300 museums that received over 150 million visitors last year.

来源：雅昌艺术网