In addition to the more than 600 state-owned museums and memorial halls that have already opened free to the public this year, China will soon open another 600 free public museums by the end of 2009. Meanwhile, the few museums that cannot admit guests for free will lower their admission prices.

The Beijing News carries an article urging an even larger number of popular museums to open free to the public. The paper points out that many of the free museums are less popular ones. It says although popular museums like the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors Museum in Xi'an, cannot open completely for free, timetables should be set to gradually reduce the ticket price and eventually make them free of charge.

Given the fact that museums cannot afford to open free of charge, the paper suggests local governments incorporate maintenance cost into their fiscal plans. However, since many museums are tourist attractions, it is not likely that local governments give up their admission charges. The paper therefore believes financial burdens can be reduced through mobilizing social resources such as donations and lotteries.

(Page Editor: Cao Jie)