This is an important heads-up for tourists in Beijing. If you are planning to visit the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, be careful which day you go. Earlier this year the museum began closing every Monday afternoon, except on public holidays. After a trial period, it has decided to carry on with that policy.

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A must-see destination in the capital, the Palace Museum used to open to enthusiastic tourists from all over world every day. Now, things have changed... On Mondays, ticket sales stop at 11am, and the museum closes at 12 sharp. This comes as a surprise to some unwary tourists.

"No, I didn't know, but if they are closing down you'd better let me go in. Otherwise I might not have time to visit. "

It's not unusual for museums to close on normal business days. The Louvre in Paris, one of the world's most visited museums, closes on Tuesdays and national holidays for maintenance. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York also closes on Mondays, as well as for public holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For the Palace Museum, which covers an area of over 700 thousand square meters and houses numerous historical treasures, it only seems fair to take an afternoon off each week.

" I think it should go further, one afternoon is just not enough to maintain the Palace Museum..."

But the Forbidden City is much in demand by tourists from home and abroad. In 2012 it received over 15 million visitors - a jump of 9 percent from 2011, and the numbers are only growing.

Taking that into consideration, the museum will stay open during public holidays, as well as in summer from July to August. Do the math, and you find that the museum will get 39 afternoons of rest this year.

Li Ji, vice president of Palace Museum, said: "Generally it would not affect the tourists very much. But that time is very precious for us. It allows us to keep maintenance, upgrade the security system and train our staff. "

And that is all done to provide a better tourism experience at this massive historic site.

Liu Wenwen, Beijing, said:"I'm now in front of Wumen, to the south of the Palace Museum, which is the main entrance. And this is not a usual sight! Every day tens of thousands of tourists flow into the museum through this gate. But only 50 percent of the museum's area is open to the public and most of it is a vertical line that runs from the south to north. Museum officials say they are planning to increase that to more than 70 percent by 2020, the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Palace Museum. There is a lot of work to be done, but it certainly is good news for Palace-watchers! "

By CCTV