Plan to preserve China's Forbidden City and heritage sites around it
Palace Museum submits 10-year draft scheme to conserve the complex
The Palace Museum in Beijing is seeking experts' opinion on its first comprehensive plan to preserve the former imperial palace as well as other heritage sites around the compound.
The museum on Tuesday revealed its massive conservation plan until 2025.
The plan aims not only to step up preservation of the palace, but also its gardens, ancestral temple and altar of land and grain, which are national heritage sites currently being used as exhibition halls, public parks and the top leadership's government compound.
The Forbidden City - which refers to the palace as well as the former imperial family's ancestral temple and the altar of land and grain, located to the south of the palace - dates back to 1406.
The site was home to more than 20 emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties until the last emperor Puyi lost his title in 1924. The palace was turned into a museum the following year.
The draft conservation plan had been submitted to the State Council for approval, Palace Museum director Shan Jixiang was quoted by the Beijing Daily as saying. The central government was expected to give it the green light by the end of the year, and once approved, the plan would become legally binding, he said. The preservation works would be completed by the end of 2025.