The place is so big that it is not easy to see all the exhibitions at one time. A rapid scamper through the seven stories will take you at least four or five hours.

Lu recommends the second and third floors for Beijing history; and says women love the ancient jades displayed on the fifth floor, adding, “For me, the Beijing folk culture on the top floor is quite interesting. You can find a red bridal sedan chair and an ncient bridal chamber for a couple's wedding night.”

Old Beijing is recreated by families living in the traditional Hutong in the folk culture section through displays featuring marriage ceremonies, festival celeations and other daily activities. The items on display include an imitation of an ancient Beijing Opera theater which provides a stage for showing Beijing Opera, Cross Talk and other forms of traditional Chinese entertainment.

Lu also recommends the "Qi Baishi Artwork Exhibition", which has collected over 280 genuine paintings from this famous Chinese painter in various periods of his life and the exhibition of gold and silverware proded by the Imperial Palace.

Here over 100 pieces will show you the brilliant court life during the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). Treasures from these two temporary exhibitions are rarely seen and will be on show for only three months. Lu revealed that 200 to 300 worldwide art treasures from the British Museum will be on display in the new Beijing Museum next February.

Considerable Service

The museum has also paid attention to customer service.

Advanced automatic fare collection can identify the ticket and allows visitors multiple entries during a given day. Besides offering introduction from interpreters, the museum also provides 21 computer tour guides, including six computers specially for disabled groups.

Facilities like phone booths, ATMs, barrier-free facilities (lanes, lifts, wheelchairs, phone booths, and restrooms specifically designed for the disabled) fresh drinking water, automatic check chipboards and a check in desk, baby strollers and a baby room, umbrellas and raincoats, parking lots are all provided.

Visitors can also act as an artifact expert in the Beijing Museum by using specialized tools and materials to participate in pottery restoration, ancient coin- making and do-it-yourself Peking Opera mask under the museum experts’guidance.To make it more convenient for foreign visitors, there will be information in English and Japanese when the museum is fully open to the public. “Other languages will be added in the future,” Lu said. He also said that the museum is expected to have eight language  systems in the future.

In a new feature for domestic museums, Beijing Museum will implement an association of Beijing Museum membership. Over 20 services will be provided for the members--things like lower admission fees, professional appraisals of your own cultural relics, safekeeping of the members' rare collections, preferential tickets and free lectures.

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