The year 2009 saw the Palace Museum take advantage of the occasion of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the P.R.C.,involve itself actively in such undertakings as collection management,protection and repair of ancient buildings,exhibition of cultural relics,public service,research and publication,Digital Palace Museum and overseas ex-change,and show in a comprehensive way the new achievements in cultural heritage protection and museum construction.
The Museum received 11.87 million visitors in total from home and abroad,hitting an historic high,and sped up the construction of the tourist management system.
The work of sorting out the collections is coming to an end.The Ke Bell,an important bronze artifact of the late Western Zhou Dynasty(c.11th century-770 BCE)which had been lost overseas for many years,was brought back by purchase.
The renovation project of the Palace Museum went on smoothly,with Cai Wu,Minister of Culture,as the head of the project’s leadership group.
Directors of the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei visited each other,reached a common consensus on eight aspects,and decided to holdjoint exhibitions.
The Research Center for Tibetan Buddhist Heritage,the Palace Museum Research Center for Ming and Qing Court History,and the Im-portant Base of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for ScientificResearch on Ancient Ceramics(the Palace Museum),were officially estab-lished.
An Overview of the Collections in the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipeiauthored by Zheng Xinmiao,Director of the Palace Museum,was cited asone of China’s Top Ten Books on Museology and Archeology in 2008.
The Museum evaluated the achievements in research of the Palace Museum(1991-2008) and granted awards.
The exhibition Cartier Treasures,which the Museum introduced,won wide acclaim.
The updated version of the website of the Palace Museum was of fi-cially released.
The construction of the utility houses and warehouses in the West Jade River(Xi yu he)of the Palace Museum was started.
The Dongchangfang Tourist Comprehensive Service Area of the Pal-ace Museum was opened.
