Chinese museums and memorials had attracted more than 820 million visitors over the past two years thanks to a free admission policy, an official of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) said Monday.

File photo: Beijing Capital Museum

The figures for the last two years were both up 50 percent from that in 2007, the last year when people had to buy tickets for visits, said Song Xinchao, SACH's director of museums.

A total of 1,447 national and provincial museums and memorials have become free of admission since January 2008, with the exception for a few world-famous cultural relics such as the Forbidden City and Summer Palace, both in Beijing.

Song said the museums used to charge fees, which discouraged many people, especially those with low incomes, from entering.

"The museums are witnessing steady flow of visitors after a sharp hike in numbers shortly after the introduction of the policy," Song said, adding people visiting major museums averaged about 3,000 a day while the figures for medium-sized and small ones were 600 and 200, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2010)