Hospital for Cultural Relics in the Palace Museum, Beijing. (Photos: dpm.org.cn)

Beijing’s Palace Museum opens the “Hospital for Cultural Relics” to the public for the first time on Saturday, June 9, 2018, on the second Cultural and Natural Heritage Day of China.

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, is a magnificent architectural complex with a vast holding of paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and antiquities from the imperial collections, which makes it one of the most prestigious museums in China and the world. 

To better preserve and repair the cultural relics under restoration in the Palace Museum, “Hospital for Cultural Relics” was established in December 2016, housing China’s most advanced conservation studios.

The hospital opens to the public and runs the first trial since its establishment.

Visiting hours for the hospital are from 9 to 11:20 am on Saturday. On-line reservations are available and necessary.

A maximum of 40 visitors are guided by 15 volunteers during the visit.

"We have spent about a year in making this reception plan. This is our first trial, and I hope it can teach us something," said Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum.

Since 2006, the second Saturday of June each year marks China’s Cultural Heritage Day. Since 2017, following respective suggestions by the UNESCO Office in Beijing, it goes under the name of “Cultural and Natural Heritage Day”. 

This year’s theme is the diffusion and inheritance of cultural heritage. The opening of the relic hospital is the first step to involve the public in this massive plan.