Shanghai plans to establish 50 new museums by 2010, adding to its current 100 museums, according to Hu Jianzhong, Party secretary at the Shanghai Museum.

"Because of the importance of Shanghai's cultural heritage, we plan to build up more museums over the next few years," Hu said.

The museums will highlight historical relics, revolutionary sites and various industries.

"There are some industrial museums already in existence, such as the tobacco and public security museums," Hu said. "The new ones will be focused on electricity, gas, fabrics and navigation, and trace the history and development of these particular sectors.

"Numbers aren't everything, however, as many of the city's existing museums are tiny, poorly funded, and not well known.

"We have 100 museums here," said a surprised Fan Wei, a middle-aged white-collar worker. "I know nothing about those industrial or private museums. They seem to be 'invisible' in the city." Some industrial museums are only of interest to people working in those sectors and many private museums struggle to survive.

"My museum featured the social customs in Qingpu District in the old days and displayed some of my collections including tools and furniture," said Deke Erh, a renowned photographer and publisher.

"Quite a lot of foreign visitors went to my museum located in the suburbs and showed great interest. But due to the financial and land problems, I closed it this year." Erh complained about a lack of support from the government for private museums.

"We understand the issue," said Hu.

As the private museums are non-profit organizations, a series of regulations on private museums will be enacted next year. For example, it will cover the qualifications and management of private museums, according to Hu.

(Shanghai Daily September 15, 2005)