CRI听力:New Measures to Ease Huge Crowd Pressure in Forbidden City

Hundreds of guests gather outside of the ticket office since the exhibition kicked off earlier this month, with a staff member from the Palace Museum leading each group into the exhibition hall.

Starting from Saturday, each of the visitors had been given a card with a number on it. The number will decide the order each visitor enters the exhibition.

Many visitors have expressed satisfaction with this new measure.

"I was prepared to rush into the exhibition to take a place. But when I came here, they gave me a number and this keeps us in order. So I think this is great."

"I think the measure really helps to keep the order for visiting. I feel satisfied"

Shan Qixiang, curator of Beijing Palace Museum, says this new measure helps the Museum better control the crowds:

"From the ticket office to the exhibition hall, we divide visitors in groups and give each person a number. So visitors have no need to rush into the exhibition to occupy a place. The measure prevents visitors from getting injured in the rush. They also don't have to worry about someone jumping in line."

The organizer has also used other measures to ease visitors' uneasiness and fatigue during waiting, including leading people to queue up in the shadow and placing more chairs for people to take a break in the queue.

The exhibition opened on September 8th and is part of the museum's celebration for its 90th anniversary.

82 pieces of artwork, include the renowned masterpiece Along the River during the Qingming Festival, a Song dynasty panoramic piece by Zhang Zeduan, are on display.

Crowds of enthusiasts waiting to enter the exhibition hall have expressed excitement about seeing the artwork.

"Actually, every piece is a national treasure. We all love them very much. Many of us are art teachers. We have seen the art works in books so many times, and are eager to appreciate the entire real works with our own eyes."

"We arrived here before 9 o'clock in the morning, and are still waiting now. My granddaughter wanted to see the art collections."

To guarantee the safety of these art treasures and keep a good environment for visiting, the Palace Museum has limited entry to two hundred visitors at a time.

Shan Qixiang says the new measures have proven to be effective.

A virtual exhibition can be viewed on the Palace Museum's website.

For CRI, I'm Qian Shanming