The open areas of the Palace Museum, known as the Forbidden City, will continue to increase up to 76 percent from its current 45.79 percent, and other new actions will also be launched to recover the museum's impaired image from a series of scandals that occurred last year, says the Palace Museum's new curator Shan Jixiang.

Shan Jixiang, the Palace Museum's new curator (C) speaks at his first official press conference held on Feb 14 in Beijing on Tuesday. [Photo/China Daily]

"The Palace Museum is like an encyclopedia. Managing it is a new challenge to my ability, knowledge and experience," said Shan, who was the former director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, at his first official press conference held on Feb 14, one month after receiving his new appointment.

Led by the former curator Zheng Xinmiao, the Palace Museum has made significant progress in many ways such as architectural repairs, scientific research and cultural broadcasting, Shan said.

In the last seven years, a thorough census of museum-owned cultural relics has been completed, the overall registered amount has been confirmed to have risen from around 1 million to 1,807,558, each of which can be cross-referred with detailed documentation.

But involved in a series of scandals last year, the Palace Museum is facing more threats compared with its achievements, Shan continued.

In 2011 the Palace Museum received more than 14.2 million visitors, which is twice the amount recorded in 2002. The number has set a record among all the world's museums and is estimated to have increased by 10 percent this year.

"Catering to the rigid visiting needs of so many people is quite a challenge for The Palace Museum, especially when visiting patterns indicate a sharp imbalance in both time and space," Shan said.

The average daily visitor numbers during the May Day holiday, National Day holiday and summer vacation period has seen a steep rise to 80,000, which on other days is around 40,000.

To improve the situation, larger areas will be opened to the public when more cultural relics have finished being repaired. Re-organizing the exhibition and dispersing streams of visitors are two other strategies.

Meanwhile, commercial stands and temporary exhibitions at the Duanmen Gate area have been removed. Up to 28 ticket boxes will be placed in this area to ease the crowds. Assisting facilities such as wheelchairs and baby carriages will also introduced.