Throwback Thursday: Plans Set for Forbidden City Expansion and Renovation

With Throwback Thursday, we take a glimpse through the mists of time to see how much Beijing has changed during our blog's run, and how much it has stayed the same. Today's segment: a revisiting of the Forbidden City's expansion and renovation on August 24, 2010, in lieu of the August 18, 2016 announcement that the tourist site would provide Wi-Fi, and the July 19, 2016 announcement that 75 percent of its palaces are set to open by the end of 2016.

The Global Times recently reported a planned expansion of the areas of the Forbidden City open to tourists, from 30 percent to 70 percent of the complex’s total area. As well as opening up new areas of the City, the renovation aims to relieve congestion and stress on the current zones open to visitors.

According to the report the area of the Forbidden City open at present has an ideal daily capacity of approximately 30,000, yet the City sees as many as 130,000 visitors a day during peak tourist seasons. Overwhelming crowds has led to damage and general wear that many hope will be relieved with the opening of new sections within the walled City.

The expansion project marks the start of phase two of long-term renovations; the first phase began in 2002, continued for six years and restored areas already open to the public. Beijingers may remember that many of the gates were spruced up in the years before the Beijing Olympics.

This new phase will work on areas not currently open to the public and is scheduled to continue through to 2020. Tourists may see new areas of the Forbidden City open to them within a year however.

Photo: telegraph.co.uk