Macau to get Palace Museum centre, to be ready in 2-3 years

A Beijing Palace Museum official  announced that a new centre is currently being built in Macau and is expected to be completed within the next two to three years, China Daily reported.

The Macau centre will have two primary functions: safeguarding Macau’s cultural heritage and designing cultural offerings related to the Palace Museum, said Dong Dan, the deputy director of the International Exchange Department of the Palace Museum, which is also known as the Forbidden City.

The official added  that the Macau center would differ from its Hong Kong counterpart, which primarily displays exhibits on loan from Beijing.

“Macau is a popular tourist destination and we hope tourists visiting from across the world will take home our products and learn about Chinese culture.”

The Hong Kong Palace Museum, which opened last July, has welcomed over 900,000 visitors and features a collection of 900 priceless treasures borrowed from the Palace Museum in Beijing. This includes ink paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and cultural artifacts related to the imperial families that once lived in the Forbidden City.

Dong remarked that as the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions are in close proximity, tourists will be able to visit exhibits at the Hong Kong Palace Museum and enjoy related cultural offerings at the Macau centre.

The Palace Museum aims to promote Chinese culture through products displayed and sold at the Macau centre, which has become a popular destination for tourists. Dong hopes that visitors from around the world will learn about Chinese culture and take home the museum’s products.

Since Macau’s return to China in 1999, the Palace Museum has held 31 exhibitions in the SAR. Its most recent exhibition, Auspicious Beginning: Spring Festival Traditions in the Forbidden City, showcased the imperial traditions of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).