Palace Museum offers free visit to 5,708 teachers today

To stimulate tourism in the slack season and also to fulfill its role in social education, the Palace Museum is waiving its admission fee for special groups on certain dates. Today, 5,708 teachers, the first batch of special visitors, are expected to visit the museum.

Along with teachers, students, soldiers and policemen, medical workers and volunteers are eligible to visit the museum for free on given dates, according to the museum's announcement last month.

The teachers were required to register on the reservation website (http://gugong.228.com.cn) and present the Chinese teachers' certification upon arrival.

The museum has set the first Wednesday of every month to host each special group. The upcoming groups are college students (Jan 7), soldiers and policemen (Feb 4), medical workers (Mar 4), and volunteers (Apr 1). Each eligible applicant is offered one free entry.

The palace museum is the most visited museum in the world. In 2012, the number of tourists visiting the Palace Museum that year surpassed 14 million, becoming the first museum to receive over 10 million visitors.

It is often the norm to see thousands of people visiting the museum each day. However, the number of visitors is not evenly distributed, with a much more significant number of visitors showing up during the holidays. The museum hopes this movement can help to ease traffic during the peak season.