China to try free museums next month

The Chinese government's decision of free admission at state-run museums will be put into practice in March, deputy minister of culture Yu Youjun has said.

All cultural and heritage protection departments should submit their plans for free admission to central authorities before the end of February, Yu was quoted as saying by The Beijing News Saturday.

The new policy affects state-owned museums run by the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Seven provinces have been chosen to pilot the program before it is applied nationwide.

The Fujian Provincial Museum, among several others, had already offered free admission in the Spring Festival. The move was effective - the museum had nearly 80,000 visitors during the week-long holiday, a big increase on usual figures.

However, the museum showed it was ill-prepared for such volume of visitors. Quite a few exhibits, including an elephant specimen, were damaged.

Deputy minister Yu has warned museums to improve their facilities and services, particularly management of crowds, to ensure the safety of visitors and the quality of services.

The Ministry of Finance said Friday that it would pay the bill for free admission.

The operating expenses of museums directly run by central authorities would be covered by the central budget, while those run by provincial or lower authorities would receive subsidies from the central coffer, Vice Minister of Finance Zhang Shaochun said.

China has more than 2,300 museums, which received 150 million people last year.(Xinhua)