Palace Museum weighs ticket fix

There are currently 10 kinds of concessionary tickets offered to people such as students, seniors and the disabled. These types of tickets might be integrated to improve the efficiency of the ticket office, he said.

At the same time, the museum is planning to issue annual tickets to visitors who come to the Palace Museum frequently to see the architecture and exhibitions. It is still to be discussed how much the annual card should cost and whether it can be used for an unlimited amount of visits.

As the imperial palace for the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the Palace Museum is identified by UNESCO as the world's largest existing complex of ancient wooden architecture.

In 2012, the museum had 15.34 million visitors and more than 14.56 million in 2013, making it the most-visited museum in the world. A record high 182,000 visitors came to the museum on Oct 2, 2012, the second day of the weeklong National Day holiday. The October holiday and summer vacation are the busiest times of the year for the museum.

A volunteer who has served as a guide at the museum for nine years suggested the price be raised to reduce the number of visitors. "The current prices do not match the status of the Palace Museum," she said, declining to be identified. "The crowds have caused so much unapparent damage to the cultural relics."

However, museum director Shan did not agree with the suggestion of increasing ticket prices year-round to cut down on crowds.

"Many visitors have come a long way to Beijing to see the palace. We don't want to ward them off like that," he said.