Museums fostered to bolster city's soft power

The capital has increased investment in and support for public cultural facilities, with the aim of enhancing people's sense of happiness and developing itself into a national center of culture, local officials said.

Beijing is the city with the most museums in China. By the end of 2022, the capital had a total of 215 registered museums, including 18 classified as national first-class museums. The goal of "building a city of museums" has been written into the capital's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

Currently, the China Great Wall Museum in northwestern Beijing's Yanqing district is transforming with a project involving a 3,500-square-meter visitor center and a 6,000-sq-m exhibition. In Tongzhou district, the construction of the Great Canal Museum is nearing completion. With a floor area of 100,000 sq m, the museum will be able to receive 6,000 visits every day. Apart from its large and public museums, the capital has introduced favorable policies to encourage enterprises, organizations and individuals to set up more museums.

According to a draft of Beijing's museum development plan for 2023-35, the number of museums is expected to exceed 460 in 2035.

Beijing also ranks first nationwide in terms of the number of bookshops. It is home to more than 2,100 brick-and-mortar bookstores and over 6,000 public libraries.

The bookstore Librairie Peut-etre in Qianchaomian Hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng district has gained popularity online. In addition to selling books, the bookstore features a cafe, study room and a gallery, as well as a shop for baozi (steamed buns).

"Since our bookstore is in the community, we hope it can become a destination where local residents can relax and enjoy their leisure time," said the bookshop's manager Niu Niu. "We are getting along well with residents nearby. Some of our employees are retirees living in the hutong (alley)."

Li Jia, deputy director of Dongcheng district's publicity department, said that cultural spaces like this are key to creating a strong cultural atmosphere and enhancing quality of life.

"There are 190 bookstores in Dongcheng now. We have rolled out a slew of incentives for them to cultivate their own brands and improve services," said Zhang Zhigang, an official from the publicity department.

Among other districts of the city, Xicheng had invested 13 million yuan ($1.78 million) to support bookstores between 2020-22. Haidian district allocates special funds of 20 million yuan every year for bookshop construction, operation and rewards, which has benefited 147 bookstores so far.

In 2021, Beijing for the first time put forward the initiative of Grand Performances in Beijing. Since then, the city has opened several theaters and performance facilities including the Beijing International Theater Centre and the Laoshe Theater.

 
Visitors view Chinese paintings displayed at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing in August. JIANG DONG/CHINA DAILY