Palace Museum to open branch in Beijing suburb

(ECNS) -- Beijing's Palace Museum is planning to build a branch museum that will house a cultural heritage repair center, according to Shan Jixiang, president of the museum, on Wednesday in Taipei.

"The construction design work for the branch has been finished," said Shan.

The Palace Museum owns a 476,000-square-meter site in northwestern Haidian district, 40 kilometers from the city center.

The site, which was a brick kiln until 1997, will house the "cultural heritage repair center" in three to five years, part of which will be open to the public.

By visiting the branch museum, people can view the heritage renovation process for themselves.

There will also be an exhibition space, a greenhouse and a digital center.

The north branch is expected to embrace over three million visitors every year, Shan said.